An Odd Tale
by Vizidoodle
Summary: Frisk climbs out from the world underneath Mt. Ebott and falls into a new one, one that may not be so different from their own. (Contains Good/Passive!Narrator!Chara, but if you do like Chara being a murderous lunatic, you have the Wights for that)
1. The Beginning

Hello friends and peeps! I'm here with the first chapter of my first fanfiction! Warning, Spoilers for Neutral and True Pacifist Routes of Undertale! And also for the whole book series of MPHFPC! I hope you enjoy, and give some helpful criticisms too! Contains no ships except the canon ones.

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Monsters. Humans. Sometimes the line between the two is gray and fuzzy, sometimes they may as well be each other. But as far as the wild-haired child on the peak of Mount Ebott was concerned, their adventure with Monsterkind was over. The Barrier shimmering behind them was proof enough of that.

And as much as they wanted to despise their death-filled adventure (all except one of the deaths being theirs), they couldn't help but miss their journey, from Sans' puns, to Alphys' rants about Mew Mew 2, and everything in between. But if they went back, would Flowey try to kill them again? Frisk shivered, remembering the nightmare that was Omega Flowey's crazed and murderous laughter as he launched wave after wave of who-knows-what.

"We should probably get going." There was the voice of a child, but no one was there.

"It's been a long time since I've seen the Sun, Chara. Can we just wait a little longer?" The ghost materialized in front of them, sighing.

"Frisk, the Sun is overrated." Frisk blinked, looking at the specter in front of them.

They (both children shared gender-neutral pronouns) were taller than Frisk, but almost everyone was. They had jagged brown hair that framed their crimson red eyes and their pronounced rosy blush. They were wearing a knitted green-and-yellow sweater with long brown jeans covered in old pollen. After taking in the appearance of Chara for the umpteenth time, they frowned.

They then turned to face the sunset again, but after a few minutes they decided to descend from the mountain, towards a beach. They were actually facing the wrong way, having squeezed through a small hole that had caught their dark brown eye. And so they trudged downwards, diagonally away from their hometown and towards a very lengthy beach.

It was a few hours later when night had fallen, and Frisk was getting tired. They hadn't slept properly since they were in the Ruins. Ruins... Frisk laid down on the sand, memories of their venture through the purple catacombs dancing through their head. They could almost smell the wafting scent of pie, see the warm glow of lamps, and sense the feeling of being home. Home...

"Welcome home, my child," spoke the motherly goat creature, "Come, I have a surprise for you." The fluffy Boss Monster led Frisk to the first door in the hallway, and said, "Ta-da! It is your very own room!"

There was an awkward pause, and Toriel began to sniff worriedly.

"I-Is something burning?" She said, hurriedly going to the source of the smell, leaving Frisk to explore their new room. As they opened the orange door, a buttercup appeared.

"Frisk! Hey Frisk!" The creature, decidedly Flowey, said. Strangely enough, it had the voice of a certain ghost...

"Frisk! Wake up, partner!" Chara said, attempting to shake the shorter of the two awake. It was barely dawn, and Frisk groggily pried open an eye.

"Chara, it's still really early, let me slee-" Chara shook them again, with more vigor this time.

"Frisk, I think I heard a wolf growling." They explained, but Frisk merely shook their head.

"It was probably just me being hungry. It's been a long time since I ate." Chara frowned at this, pointing to a line of tracks in the sand across the beach, tracks that were not from a person. "But there's clawprints over there." Frisk ignored the ghostly guide, trying to fall back asleep. Chara decided to follow the trail of tracks, ending at a large rock.

"Huh. They just end here." They observed, and then a wave of dread crashed over them, raising long-dead hairs on a long-dead neck. At this point, they speed hovered over to Frisk.

"Frisk, we have to go. NOW." But the young brunette just shook their head. So Chara shook them with the force of a wild poltergeist and stared directly at them.

"Chara, this isn't funny." They looked at Chara, and saw their dread-filled face. The self-proclaimed 'guide' hadn't been this tense since Undyne was about to appear, or when Sans first approached.

And then it hit Frisk, like Asgore's trident shattering the MERCY button. They too felt the sinking feeling of their gut tying itself in a worried knot. Their worries were confirmed when their SOUL, a bright red cartoon-ish heart, was tugged out of their chest. And so they ran. Soon after, a bloodcurdling roar broke the water's ambience, and Frisk kicked it into high gear while simultaneously trying-and failing-to put their SOUL away. The last thing they needed was some Joe or Jane walking in on a child holding a floating heart while frantically sprinting away from nothing. And speaking of nothing, the creature was wildly running after Frisk, kicking up sand, water, and eventually dirt as they entered some kind of forest.

Frisk was quickly reaching their physical limit, and there was only so much "KEEP GOING, FRISK! I THINK IT'S GAINING ON US!" could do.

"Can't...must...breathe..." The ghostly partner waved their arms.

"Frisk, we can't wait! That...that-thing is going to KILL you!" Chara was right, the creature was nearing them, as evidenced by Frisk's SOUL flashing. The 'murder thing'-as Chara had named it-was only a sprint away. But Frisk could go no further by themself. Chara frowned, then had an idea. "I'm not giving up on escaping, and neither are you!" The long-dead child felt a surge of warmth and being as they took over their partner's body.

With all the Determination Frisk's tired, fleshy body could muster, Chara set off. Faster then they had stormed up Mt. Ebott so long ago, faster than Frisk had dashed away from the danger of Undyne's spears. Frisk was still only a child possessed by another child, though, and Chara could feel the sense of being alive again slowly slip away.

'No,' they thought to themself, 'Concentrate on the movement of Frisk's legs, and our goal of not dying at the claws of an invisible thing.' And they tried their best to keep going, but it was all becoming fuzzy and blurred.

From very far away, they could hear voices. Someone yelling in shock, a swarm of bees, and then darkness. Pure, lonely darkness.

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And that was the first chapter! Don't worry, the MPHFPC characters will be in the next chapter! Cya then~


	2. The Children Arrive

Hello friends and peeps, here I am with the second chapter of An Odd Tale! Finally, we will get to meet Miss Peregrine and her charges! I hope you enjoy, I hope everyone's not too OOC. On with the chapter!

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Jacob, Millard, and Hugh had all decided to go outside rather early today because they felt like they needed the fresh air. It was about 6 AM or so, and they were all having a nice time in general-chasing each other, teasing about each other's crushes. Suddenly, an earthshaking, nerve-wracking roar was bellowed, and they all paused.

"Did I just hear what I think I heard?" Jacob asked, looking at the other two and then to the forest surrounding their home's yard. No-one replied because the question was mostly rhetorical. The roar was very close to the home, and none of the three boys were prepared for such a thing to happen.

"Do you think we should get everyone else? Or at least something to kill the Hollow?" Hugh asked, not noticing Millard's the invisible nod as he was already halfway to the house. And then another loud screaming noise rang out, but this time it was more childlike and less earthshaking.

"WHY IS THAT THING STILL HERE?!" the voice cried in alarm, "I THOUGHT WE LOST IT A LONG TIME AGO!" There was another roar, followed by a long period of silence.

As Jacob and Hugh began to think up all the bad scenarios that could be happening, a short, tan child limped into the field, muttering something about frisking. Their legs moved haphazardly as they pulled themselves along, stumbling as though it was the first time they had walked in years. They had several leaves stuck in their wild chocolate-brown hair and looked like they had just climbed out of some bloody mud puddle. And to put the cherry on top of the ever-so-confusing cake, they were clutching a bright-red heart that looked like it had come straight from a Valentine's Day card.

The Hollow was there as well, the candles on the confusion-filled cake. It effortlessly bounded towards the now crawling child, with the intent to eat. Jacob considered his options as quickly as he could. 'I don't even know this kid, they could be a Wight, for all I know.'

Hugh, however, acted very quickly and launched a swarm of angry bees onto the Hollow. 'The child may be evil, but the Hollow is still a Hollow.' He said to himself mentally as his bees mercilessly attacked the soulless creature. This only aggravated it more, evidenced by the way it launched itself towards the unmoving child on the ground. Hugh's bees did their worst, and the Valentine's Day heart proceeded to do a full 180, pointing towards the Hollow as it gained a faint yellow glow.

 _Ping!_

The glow formed a gravity-defying droplet and launched it at the Hollow. It lost its footing for a second, startled by the shot.

 _Ping!_

Another shot hit the Hollow in the nightmare-inducing chin. This went on for a while, until eventually the Hollow smacked the yellow droplet-bullets away like they were flies, and grabbed the child (who still seemed to be unconscious) with its tongues. The small backpack previously on their shoulders fell onto the ground, spilling out crumbs and various clothes. The child was moments away from death and the Valentine's heart moved erratically as if it somehow understood the dire situation it was in. The Hollow craned its neck directly upwards, hoisting the child high into the air.

Even with all the bees swarming it furiously, it was about to devour this child. The air went frigid, an unexplained blast of cold accumulating somewhere near the Hollow's side. It seemed even the air was tense about this child's horrid fate.

And then, a miraculous coincidence occurred. A crossbow bolt impaled the Hollow's neck, killing it instantaneously as Jacob turned to see a floating set of clothing brandishing a crossbow. Hugh's bees retreated back into his stomach, and the child fell to the ground due to the Hollow going limp. They hit the ground, face-down and the red heart disappeared with a pop. Jacob looked at the child, then to the backpack near his feet, then to Millard again. And behind him was all the other older children.

"Millard! That was extremely convenient timing!" Hugh said, as Jacob looked at the child once more, trying to figure out their gender (to little avail). He picked up the backpack instead and a rectangular steak-covered mostly in tinfoil-fell out.

"I don't even want to know, do I?" Jacob said to himself, rummaging through the backpack some more as he walked with the other peculiars. He found a frying pan and a golden heart-shaped locket engraved with 'Best Friends Forever' at the top of the bag.

"What are we going to do with the child?" Emma asked, looking at the locket curiously.

"I just want to know what's up with that shiny red heart they were carrying," Hugh replied simply. They all chatted about it amongst themselves until they got to the house.

Bronwyn was carrying the child and simply said to her headmistress, "Miss Peregrine, we found someone."

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And that's it for this chapter! I hope you enjoyed, I hope you give some cool comments or some equally cool criticism, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!~


	3. An Awakening

Hello friends and peeps, welcome to the slightly delayed Chapter Three of An Odd Tale. Without further ado, on with the chapter! Also, a quick thank you to MadameMorphine, who's been helping me with some ideas!

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Softness, like the first bed of buttercups. And Frisk's head had a horrid pounding as if they had landed on the flowerbed wrong. The child tried to focus and saw a fuzzy set of letters and numbers appear.

 **CHARA LV 1 5/20 HP**

They smiled despite the painful haze, knowing they weren't quite dead yet. But if they weren't dead, that meant they also weren't on the bed of flowers. Unsure about their whereabouts, they opened their eyes to see a wall, and another, and...a floating set of clothing? Frisk curiously reached out to the brown fabric, and the hat turned towards them. A bit embarrassed by what was probably a glare or a weird look, they retracted their arm and set it on their bruised forehead. Looking up, they saw a transparent 10-year-old floating above them.

"You're awake! Um, sorry about possessing you back there. I, you know, panicked." They gave a forced laugh and did a full spin.

"There's lots of other people here. And they seem okay, for people."

The sudden bitterness and contempt of those last words nearly froze the air. There was a moment of silence, and Chara broke it by adding,

"Maybe you should say hello, You seem like the friendly type, and you probably like people more than I do."

Frisk attempted to give a nod, but their head still pounded fiercely, so they just gave a thumbs up with their free hand. Chara gave a simple smile in response, dissipating into the air.

"H-hello," Frisk managed to croak, hoping the people were friendly as well.

"Hello! I heard you shot the Hollow with an upside-down heart! Is that really true?" said a little girl with curly blond hair, suddenly blocking most of their view.

"Hollow?" They responded, confused.

"Blah blah blah blah, blah," said the little girl, but not really. Frisk was just zoning out while staring at the ceiling.

"I told you she was awake, Miss Peregrine," said an older blond girl, who had happened to walk in with an old lady.

"She? I was sure that _he_ was a _he_ ," said the floating clothes. The little girl moved away to reveal more of the room, which included Chara holding up a record next to an old record player.

"Look at this record player! It has a neat crank and everything!" they said, placing the record down. "This is going to be really cool."

Frisk showed their tongue in defiance, but it was too late. Run Rabbit Run started playing at full blast. A few of the people covered their ears, and some of them looked to the floating clothes set.

"Millard!" The older blond girl said, and the clothes turned.

"What? I have been here the whole time," they responded in the voice of a teenage boy. Meanwhile, the old lady was walking over to the record player, turning it off.

"There will be no more of that," she said, and to that Chara frowned.

"Alright, Miss Un-Fun."

They floated over to Frisk and continued to speak.

"Anyways, it seems our guest is awake. Who might your name be?" the old lady asked, looking at Frisk.

It had just then occurred to them that they had never said their name through the whole journey, only to Chara.

"Frisk."

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An anticlimactic ending, I know. But less anticlimactic things are just around the corner! Well, see you next chapter, give some cool tips and all that jazz!


	4. These People are Weird

Hello again, friends and peeps! With no further introduction needed, on with the chapter! (PS, check out MadameMorphine)

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"So your name is Frisk, how delightful," said the old lady, with not the slightest hint of sarcasm or disgust.

'I hope you'll apologize for calling her Miss Un-Fun now, Chara,' the stocky little 8-year-old thought, holding out a hand.

"I suppose we should all introduce ourselves. I am Miss Peregrine, and I am-" Frisk cut her off, blurting out, "The Keeper of some Ruins?"

"No, no, I am the headmistress of this home, and in addition, I am also an ymbryne."

Meanwhile, Chara did a barrel roll in the air.

"Get a load of that word, Frisk. I bet it's really hard to spell. I-m-b-r-i-e-n, I think," The ghost rattled off as Frisk tried their best to pay attention to the woman named after a bird.

"What's that?" The non-dead of the two simply asked, confused by the spelling, and the pronunciation and Chara's blabbing. They flopped back onto the couch, looking directly up at their fellow pactee.

"Well, it's a type of yakkity yak that can yadda yadda, and in addition, we can also blah blah."

This, of course, was not what Miss Peregrine had said, but the ache in Frisk's head kept them from taking in most, if any, of the sentence.

'I could say that my head hurts,' Frisk thought, 'but I've been through worse.'

"With that set aside, what is your peculiarity, Frisk?" Miss Peregrine asked, and Frisk paused.

"Peculiarity?" They repeated, utterly lost.

"Yes, it's a strange ability that everyone here possesses. If you weren't peculiar, then there would be no way you could have come here," the headmistress of the house explained.

"So you have a ban on non-weird people?" Frisk blurted suddenly, then covered their mouth.

"Peculiar is a synonym for unusual or weird, but to us, it has a whole different meaning. I, as I have previously explained, can turn into a bird and make loops."

Frisk nodded as if they understood (which they didn't), and thought for a few seconds.

"So if I'm like you, then can I turn into a bird, too? Or does everybody do different things?" The newest hope of Monsterkind asked.

"Well, none of my wards have had the same peculiarity so far, but there could be a chance that you share a similar one to theirs."

Frisk looked around, and Chara floated leisurely.

"You know, I've never really seen you do anything weird before, besides taking more candy than you were supposed to," Chara commented, looking the headache bearing child over.

"You certainly don't seem weird, either."

Frisk ignored this and rubbed their head, trying to find anything that indicated they possessed a power others did not.

"Determination!" The young gender-neutral child suddenly exclaimed, throwing a hand into the air.

"And what does this 'determination' peculiarity entail?" Miss Peregrine asked, and Frisk waved a hand, making the floating red heart appear once more.

"Soul," Frisk said, and it was true. They hoped these new people would understand, just at least a little bit, what they were talking about.

"How interesting, you can summon your soul at will. Which one is that?" Miss Peregrine said and then asked.

Frisk was obviously confused by this, as it as it was the only SOUL they had. Chara's SOUL was just...apart of Chara, who was kind of apart of Frisk. And Chara was just starting to creep over to the old record player again, with the most mischievous look on their ghostly face.

"Which?" Frisk repeated, still very baffled.

"Yes, Peculiars have two souls, one normal and one peculiar. It is the combination of the two that allowed you to enter this loop," the bird-transforming headmistress said, and Chara turned to face their younger counterpart.

"Two SOULS, huh?" They grinned slyly, putting both hands in the air. They clapped three times, spun around once, and then bellowed, "Neenoy...Hoy...NEENEHOY!" in a progressively louder tone. A second red heart materialized in their geistly palm, but it was much different than Frisk's. It was very faded, even gray and black in some areas, and was in a multitude of pieces, all floating together.

"Two," Frisk said, pointing to the SOUL across the room, watching the gray and light red gain bits back and forth, like a tide of their partner's ever-so-slightly questionable morals. Miss Peregrine looked at the gray and light red fragments, noticing they mostly all kept together in the general shape of a heart.

She decided not to pry, seeing as the child was in such a pained and battered state already.

"Frisk, you can rest some more if you'd like," the talented ymbryne spoke in a soft, comforting voice.

The child grinned a toothy grin, and they 'made' their second SOUL disappear. It was really all Chara's work, considering it was their SOUL.

Frisk drifted into a sleep filled with Asgore wishing for them to stay determined. As inspirational quotes trailed off, the 8th child to fall into the Underground felt at peace with the world.

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And that was the fourth chapter! What adventures await Frisk once they awaken again? Will Chara ever stop abusing their poltergeist-like abilities? Find out on the next episode of Dragon Ba-Next chapter of An Odd Tale! Cya then!~


	5. A Note from the Author

Hi peeps, welcome to my first ever Author's Note chapter. I know you might be pretty disappointed to click on the 5th chapter of the only MPHFPC/Undertale crossover on this site, only to find an author's note.

The thing is I'm kind of having a case of writer's block, so expect a break from the story similar to the one between Chapter 2 and 3 (basically a week). This doesn't mean I'm ending the story, just that I need to figure out what to write and how to write it.

See you in Chapter Five!~


	6. The Second Awakening

Hello friends and peeps, welcome to the sixth chapter of An Odd Tale, this time it isn't an Author's Note! It seems Frisk is finally going to settle in with the peculiars! What will they think of this strange new place? Read the story to find out!

The wild-haired child woke up in a soft bed, staring up at a ceiling printed with daisies. It was a comforting sight to behold, and the soft blanket that was draped over their torso (and the cool washcloth on their brow) only made it better. "Chara?" They asked, glancing around the room for a sign of the mischief-loving pun enthusiast.

"Oh, you're up." A transparent sleeve fell through the ceiling, followed by a green-and-yellow striped sweater. "Did you SAVE yet?" Frisk shook their head, and replied,

"I didn't find a place to SAVE yet. Plus I don't think these people would get it." The disembodied voice blew a raspberry.

"Oh, Come on, Frisk. One of the people here has a beehive in his stomach, and the lady who runs this place can turn into a bird." Frisk's face reddened, and they quickly sputtered,

"B-but I bet none of them would get SAVEs or RESETs or even what Determination actually does.." Chara materialized directly in front of their injured partner.

"I guess it's mutual since you didn't even bother to listen when the caretaker lady told you about being an i-m-b-r-i-e-n-e. " The shorter, younger child sighed in frustration.

"I had a headache..." Chara rolled their eyes and motioned to a glowing yellow four-point star on the nearest dresser in the room.

"If you want to SAVE, just do it. I'm sure they'll believe you if you tell them Determination also lets you heal yourself." The SAVE point was out of reach, yet Frisk still waved their hand at it.

"Frisk, I can't move it. I can't. It's unmovable." The ghostly narrator tried to pry the star away for an example, and as they had said, it did not budge. Frisk kept holding their hand out in its direction nonetheless. At that moment, Miss Peregrine gently opened the door to the newest arrival waving their hand at a small golden-colored star that was on the dresser.

"Frisk?" The celebrated, prodigal ymbryne asked, still standing in the door, "I'm coming into the room now." Her voice was as soft as the blankets, perfectly matching with the atmosphere of the room. Frisk gave a weak smile and a quiet greeting.

"Hi." The young hope of Monsterkind said, continuing to make futile grabs for the SAVE point. Miss Peregrine drew her gaze to it, watching it dim and glow as if it was a very intriguing nightlamp. Forgetting that their new headmistress was there for a second, Frisk made their SOUL appear and willed it to move over to the SAVE point, and the two glowed as if they always were meant to be together.

"The comforting nature of the room before you fills you with Determination," Chara spoke, halfway through the wooden floor. "Game saved. HP restored." At that, a ribbon of yellow light swirled around Frisk's SOUL, and all of the young child's wounds were gone. The SAVE point disappeared, and Chara was still halfway through the floor. Miss Peregrine was still there and was a bit taken aback by this show of lights and healing. Unfortunately, the SAVE point's job was not to make people squeaky clean, so the formerly injured child's overalls and shirt were still covered with dried blood, dirt, though the pollen was noticeably gone.

"You will never cease to surprise me, will you?" Miss Peregrine said, and Frisk shook their head with a toothy grin. With a wave of their small hand, the red heart was gone again. Chara was smiling, too, glad to see their partner up and at 'em again.

"I like her. She reminds me of Mom, er, Toriel." The overall-and-random-fabric-square-wearing child nodded, and said,

"Yeah, for me too." They both suddenly paused noticing Frisk's mistake. 'Oh no, I just talked to Chara in front of the ymbryne lady!' The younger of the two thought worriedly.

"There is, in fact, a surprise I haven't told you about yet, young Frisk," said Miss Peregrine, noticing that the comment was not directed at her, but decided it would be best if she told them about loops now.

"There is?" The stocky child of Determination asked, and the time-manipulating headmistress nodded and said,

"Yes, and it's called a loop." She told the child before her about the world of the peculiars: ymbrynes like herself, who had the power to shapeshift into birds and make one day that repeats forever, the Hollowgast, which was the creature that had tried to kill Frisk a while back, and finally the wights, who seemed a bit too similar to a certain talking flower for comfort. Frisk was enthralled with the stories of this world they had stumbled across, letting every word Miss Peregrine spoke sink into their brain.

"Now then," the raven-haired caretaker said, "I think it's time for you to finally meet the rest of my wards."

And that's the end of Chapter 6! I promise, promise, promise that Frisk will get to interact with the children in the next chapter. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed, be sure to leave some tips and/or criticisms, and I'll see you in the next chapter!


	7. An Everything Person

Hello again, friends, peeps, and also viewers! Welcome to the seventh chapter of An Odd Tale, wherein Frisk will meet the peculiar children because I promised you all. Self-noticed inconsistencies in past chapters aside, let's get on with the story! (As always, don't forget to check out MadameMorphine, who has been a great help with writing this story).

Frisk thought it was a good idea as well, but unfortunately, they were a mess. Sure, the pollen had drifted off of them, the leaves in their hair were gone, and they were no longer wounded, but their overalls were still stained with dirt and blood.

"How about we get you all cleaned up?" Miss Peregrine offered, and Frisk decided to take the ymbryne up on it. Soon enough, the young child had what was arguably one of the best baths of their whole life. At this point, Miss Peregrine knew Frisk's birth gender for certain and offered them a variety of clothing choices to go with it. Now Frisk hadn't told Miss Peregrine about being gender-neutral yet, so they chose a simple yellow-and-brown shirt and some brown ankle-length pants in honor of Monster Kid. Their formerly knotted hair was now tamed, wavy even.

"Now then, Frisk, shall we go downstairs and meet the others?" The child gave a nod, and followed the raven-haired lady down the stairs and outside, where there were several children playing.

"Children, this is Frisk, and-" Frisk tugged on her sleeve worriedly, as if there was something they needed to say first.

"Yes?" She looked down, probably expecting 'I'm too nervous..' or 'I don't trust these people.' Instead, she got a quiet, whispery,

"I-I'm a they.." At this point Miss Peregrine was whispering as well because it was rude to be loud when people were whispering like Frisk was.

"A they? You could have just told me this before." The yellow-clad child, this they, was a little embarrassed by what was most likely the truth.

"I thought you wouldn't get it...Lots of adults tell me, 'You can only be a boy or a girl. There is no such thing as a they.' " Chara wordlessly agreed in the background. They had been mocked and constantly shunned as a child for just the same thing.

"Now, Frisk, I've only just met you, but I'd never shun you away for not fitting the mold that others set. Each child here is different in their own way, and that's not bad. Take, for instance, Claire." She motioned to the small girl with curly, golden hair.

"She has a mouth in the back of her head but I love her just the same as everyone else here." Frisk smiled in a heartfelt way. Miss P cleared her throat and began the introduction again.

"Children, this is Frisk. They are my newest ward and the newest child here. For your own sake, I hope you treat them with respect. Now, we should all introduce ourselves as well." A floating set of clothing stepped up first.

"I'm Millard, and I'm invisible." He slowly spun around in place. The introductions went on, and in all, there was a fancy-clothed boy who had prophetic dreams, a boy who had a beehive in his stomach, 'a brooding teenage romance novel protagonist' (as Chara described him) who brought dolls to life with vital organs, a boy wearing a sweater that looked more recent, as if it was bought last Tuesday, a girl who had fire magic, a girl as strong as Undyne, a little girl who could float, a girl who could manipulate plants, of course, Claire.

"Nice to meet you, Horace, Hugh, Enoch, Jacob, Emma, Bronwyn, Olive, Fiona, and also Claire," Frisk said, after taking a very deep breath. After that, Frisk decided to hunt some bugs in the garden.

"Ah, a fine specimen of Sinodendron cylindricum," said Millard, looking at the beetle. Frisk stared at it, confused at the long word Millard had just used.

"You mean this nose-spike bug?" Millard laughed.

"Is that what you call a rhinoceros beetle?"

"Yeah, but..."

"But you never knew what it was really called?" The miraculous Invisible Boy inquired. Frisk nodded as the beetle climbed up their arm. So, for most of their time outside, Frisk looked for bugs while Millard named them, gave facts, etcetera etcetera. Chara watched and occasionally messed with the other boys' game of football, ever so slightly moving the ball around so that, at the moment of the kick, a person would miss and embarrass their partner. Frisk eventually caught the attention of Claire, who insisted that they introduce themselves to her dolls and stuffed animals.

"And this is Foxpin," she finally said, holding up a small doll of a fox wearing a hat and little gloves.

"I like your friends," said Frisk, nodding appreciatively, "It was really nice to have me say hi to them." They all began a little tea party, laughing and eating imaginary cake until Miss Peregrine finally called them inside for lunch.

"You know what, I think you're just an everything person. You know, like a people person but you get along with Monsters and 'peculiar' people, too." Chara said, smirking.

"Aww...Thank you.." Frisk quietly replied, walking inside, to start the next part of their day.

And that's the seventh chapter! The next chapter will include lunch and some possible disagreements, so watch out for salt! ;)

See you then!


	8. Salty Times are Around the Corner

Hello again, friends and peeps! I promised you salt and you will get salt!

P.S.: Some of the things (geography, events, times when Jacob is and isn't in the loop) in the book and this story don't line up exactly, which I realized in medias res of reading it. with that cleared up, on with the chapter!

They all sat together at the table (except for Hugh, because of his bees), and Frisk could hardly wait to eat as they stared at their food dishes. The cooking skills of the 'Bird'-as the other children called her-did not matter as long as there was food on their plate. She finally walked into the dining room and took a seat.

"Children," she announced, "You may eat now." The shiny metal covers were removed and Frisk couldn't help but gawk. This lady had absolutely exceeded their expectations of her cooking skills; in fact, it was the best-looking meal they had ever set their eyes upon.

"Wow..." They quietly said, and Emma whispered something about loops and RESETs.

"Are you going to start building a shrine to the food or are you actually going to eat it," cracked Chara.

Frisk rubbed their eyes and blinked twice, just to make sure this wasn't a dream, and started placing all sorts of things on their plate. Apparently Miss Peregrine was also good at making food taste good, something relatively new to them as well.

"Pass the salt, please?" They asked after swallowing a bite of fresh, crisp vegetables. Olive handed over the salt shaker, and as Frisk held it up, it slipped out of their hand while somehow also taking off the lid, pouring salt all over their plate.

"I ought to charge you for a-salt-ting your food, partner." Chara joked, staring at the small mound of sodium chloride that rested on their plate.

"Frisk, are you okay?" asked Olive, as Frisk stared at the most likely ruined food. She was half expecting Frisk to start throwing a fit, but they simply shrugged and ate a bite of food, salt and all.

"Do you want some of mine?" The young child asked, upon seeing the confused face of Olive. They looked around at the slightly baffled others, and said,

"You can have some of my salt if you want." Miss Peregrine held up a hand.

"Frisk, I think that's quite enough about salt for now." That was the end of that, and everyone ate their food without another mention of the spilled salt.

Now that lunch was over, everyone went to do their separate things, and Frisk decided to follow Enoch.

"Watch this," said the 13-something-year-old boy, who in reality was actually much more than 3 years older than Frisk. He was holding a small clay doll (he called it a 'homunculus') fitted with a fork and a tiny, still-bloody heart. He opened the chest of the figure and placed the heart inside, then closed the cavity. For a moment nothing happened, then it began to move about.

"Hello!" Frisk greeted, as Enoch picked the thing up and placed it with a similar group of homunculi.

"Now, you fight," Enoch commanded to the figurines, and they began a harsh battle, stabbing each other with silverware, tackling and jumping. In the end, most of them were reduced to heaps of lifeless clay. The whole time, Frisk was slightly horrified.

"Are they all dead?" They asked, gently lifting up a malformed clump skewered by a very sharp toothpick. Enoch nodded, and replied,

"Of course they're dead. What's the point of a homunculus battle if nobody dies in it?" Frisk frowned solemnly.

"But what if nobody has to die?" They asked, to which Enoch bluntly replied,

"What's the fun in that? A battle, but nobody dies?" He rolled his eyes and sighed. Frisk shook their head and stepped out of Enoch's makeshift laboratory hoping to find a less saddening past-time. As they hopped down the stairs, they saw everyone except Jacob scuttling around.

"What's going on?" Frisk questioned as they took a seat with Miss Peregrine's second newest ward.

"They told me they were getting ready for a show." The young man said, his eyes flickering between Frisk and the hurried peculiars around him. The reply caused Frisk to think of Mettaton's ratings-fueled antics and they smiled.

"Sounds cool!" The both of them sat in silence as everyone hobbled outside. Eventually, Millard finally strode forward in what looked to be a sideshow barker's clothes.

"Jacob and gentlethem!" He announced, and Frisk giggled, "Come outside for the astounding spectacle that is Miss Peregrine and her fantastical Peculiar Children!"

Frisk giggled again and tottered to the door, very eager to see the spectacle that Millard was raving about. Jacob followed both outside where a wooden stage stood.

"Now may I present the amazing Madame Bird!" The invisible barker cried as he pulled out Miss Peregrine (in bird form), perched on his arm.

"Now, I shall use my magic to transform her into a human woman!" He placed her on a box, draping a curtain in front of her. There was a moment of suspenseful silence, and all of the audience leaned forward in their seats despite already knowing the outcome. There was a ruffling of feathers followed by wings flapping, and lo and behold-Miss Peregrine's face! Everyone broke into boisterous applause, loving the performance. Miss Peregrine's hair was less prim than usual, and she already had the curtain wrapped around herself. She said something about a 'halcyon day', and then swiftly maneuvered towards the house.

The next one to perform was Millard, who juggled a bunch of bottles whilst completely naked, making it seem like they were flying through the air in circles. Frisk, of course, clapped enthusiastically. Olive spun and twirled on a set of parallel bars, disregarding gravity. Then there was Emma, who swallowed fire followed by Bronwyn lifting up a boulder in a way that the yellow-and-brown-sweater donning child was sure only her and Undyne could manage, and it all ended with a musical feat brimming with flowers and bees. Frisk's little hands hurt but they did not care. They had loved the whole thing, through and through.

"Wasn't that amazing, Jacob?" They asked, as they lay in the grass, watching clouds slowly roll about. The teen-aged boy nodded, and his eyes moved over to Emma, who had managed to get the older children pepped for swimming.

"Swimming? I love swimming!" Frisk cried, wanting to go along. "I want to swim! I want to swim with you!" Emma sighed and said yes, and Frisk happily dashed towards the house, bursting with glee.

See? Salt!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Feel free to review, follow, or even favorite! See you in the next chapter~


	9. A Swimmingly Fun Time

Hello friends and peeps, welcome to the ninth chapter of the only Undertale and MPHFPC crossover on this site! When we last left off, Frisk convinced the older children (and Miss Peregrine as well) to let them swim! Regular reminder to check out MadameMorphine (they may not update as often as I do but they are still a good writer!)

* * *

Frisk stood in front of the Headmistress.

"Would you like to use one of the other children's swim clothes?" The talented ymbryne asked, and Frisk nodded.

"Though you may be neutral to gender, unfortunately, all of the boys' clothing are far too large for you. Would you be alright with using some of Claire's swim clothes?" Frisk thought hard for a moment, and then nodded.

"Now be careful and safe, Frisk." Miss Peregrine said, and Frisk gave a thumbs up. They then took the swimclothes, stepped out of the door and then bolted towards the older children.

"Wait for me!" They cried as they skittered after the actually-very-old teenage children. They eventually ended up beside Fiona, who no longer had unbelievably wild hair.

"So where's the beach?" Frisk asked, as the others chatted about menial things.

"Just through town, really." The well-dressed young man smiled.

"I've never been to your town before." They replied.

"It's not _really_ our town though," Emma shot back, "The boys usually only come here to play a stupid game called Raid the Village."

"Raid the Village?" Frisk inquired, "That doesn't sound very nice."

"It's not, that's why it's stupid." The pyrokinetic girl responded.

"We aren't going to do that today, are we?" The small child asked, and Emma shook her head.

"I sure hope not." They all kept walking along until they reached a town that looked very historic. A man pulled a wagon, and some fishermen talked about 'you boats'. Strangely enough, Millard kept predicting things right before they happened.

"Are you psychic?" Frisk asked with wonder, and Horace let out a subtle snicker.

"No, he just spends most of _his_ time studying the town." It was too late, the damage was already done; the stocky little child's eyes were still starry.

"Wow!" They exclaimed, and Millard (presumably) smiled.

"It's nice to see someone appreciates my work." Jacob nodded and said he found it interesting, too.

"I don't see what's so great about it," Hugh commented, "He spends all of his time sneaking around and following people for 'the sake of information' but he can't get anymore interesting than 'That pig is about to oink three times'." Frisk's face reddened a little.

"I still think it's cool.." They kept looking around with the same sense of wonderment. Jacob kept on talking with Emma, Hugh was talking with Fiona, etc etc.

"I can see the appeal of wanting to study a town like this," said Chara, "Especially if you're invisible." Frisk smiled and nodded as the group began to run out of dock to walk on. It led to a large strip of rocks followed by a sandy beach.

"We're here!" Frisk exclaimed as they hopped onto the sand.

"Hey, you aren't going to swim in your new clothes, right?" Chara asked, and Frisk's face reddened again.

"Right." They were quick to follow the other girls, quickly throwing on the swimsuit. It worked, and certainly better than one of the boys or older girls' swimsuits. In fact, the boys were only in their underwear. They froze for a moment, one foot sticking out from behind the crevice-esque rocks.

"Frisk, are you okay?" one of the others asked, to which they meekly responded,

"Uhm, yeah." Though it sounded more like a question than an answer.

"Come on, the water isn't THAT cold!" Another called, and Frisk stepped out. A few moments passed, and suddenly they had dashed forward, kicking up water in glee.

"Okay!" And for hours on end, all the children ran around. When it got cold, they sprinted out of the water. When they began to heat up again, it was back in the water. It continued like this as the Sun slowly lowered, all the while Jacob answered questions about his life and things Frisk themselves didn't know yet. He told the others about phones, and planes, history and scientific discoveries. Even Frisk joined in with asking questions. Eventually, the Sun began to duck towards the horizon, and all decided to go home.

"Jacob, aren't you gonna stay with us and Miss Peregrine?" Frisk asked, as they headed towards the house. They were being carried by Bronwyn because their blinding clumps of wet brown hair nearly caused them to walk right into a bog pit.

"I have to go back to my parents, Frisk." Emma made a pouty face.

"Yes, Jacob, why can't you stay just a little longer?" The two began to talk, an obvious connection seeming to unfold. Who knows, maybe that was just the apple and the kiss.

"Bye Jacob!" Frisk called, brushing their soggy hair aside as they turned to reenter Miss Peregrine's expansive house.

"Welcome back, children. I presume Mr. Portman had to go back." Miss Peregrine greeted them, sitting in a chair that was a combination of a loveseat, recliner, and a rocking chair. The other, younger children were engaging in the activity of drawing a beautiful garden for Fiona. And Horace nodded.

"Well, I believe it is right about time for dinner. Now then, you all should get washed up." The rest of the children nodded this time, and Frisk managed to sneak their way up to the bathroom first.

"You have a memory of your recent watery escapades. You are filled with Determination." The yellow star glimmered as Chara spoke. It formed a familiar sparklimh ribbon of yellow, and the green-wearing ghost spoke again.

"HP restored."

* * *

And that's it for the chapter! Next time: Frisk's reaction to the loop changeover/reset! Cya then, peeps!


	10. Of RESETS and Resets

"Chara?" The odd poltergeist froze in place.

"Oh, right. Game saved." They said, as there was a knocking on the door.

"Are you almost done? How long does it take to wash your hands and your face?" asked a voice, presumably Enoch.

"Just a little bit more, okay?" They asked, smooshing their cheek against the door so that the morbid boy could hear them better. They faced the sink area again, turning on the faucet and quickly washing up.

"Done!" They announced, opening the door for Enoch. As the ring-eyed boy walked in, Frisk started towards the stairs.

"Wait." They suddenly said, and Chara gave them a weird look.

"What?"

"Didn't we already have dinner?" Chara thought about this for a second and then nodded.

"Yeah, maybe we just misheard that lady." Frisk nodded as well.

"Mhm." They walked down the stairs and tugged on the sleeve of the first person they saw, who happened to be Bronwyn.

"Bronwyn, are we having dinner?" This time it was she who gave the weird look.

"Of course. Didn't you hear the Bird?" Frisk's face went beet red. So they were wrong after all. So they went to the dining room table and sat down.

About half an hour later, because the author doesn't want a dinner scene taking up most of the chapter...

"That was really good..." Frisk said as Chara floated around the various plates.

"I wish I was alive so I could eat with you." They lamented as everyone began to put away their plates. Chara, feeling a bit cheated, decided to stubbornly plant themselves on the table.

"Being a ghost isn't fair." But Frisk was already gently placing their plate(s) in the sink. As Chara sat, frowning, Frisk looked at them.

"Hug?" Chara kept frowning.

"Okey." The notably-now-overall-wearing child said and decided to follow Hugh, who was going outside. The long-deceased child suddenly started being dragged along by some invisible force, sliding off of the table and across the floor.

"This again?" They huffed, then decided that being grumpy was unfun. They speed-hovered to Frisk and noticed that all the others were gathered somewhere around some topiary sculpture of a man pointing to the sky.

"What's this?" They heard Frisk asking, and the mourner-looking old lady known as Miss Peregrine.

"Oh, right, I failed to find a time to explain changeovers to you. Every night at exactly this time, I reset the loop." At the word RESET, both of the Determined children froze.

"RESET?" Frisk shakily repeated.

"Don't worry, no harm will come to you. It is an ymbryne's duty to protect her wards, after all." The fact that she handed some weird, rubbery mask to them after that was not very comforting.

"A reset allows the loop to repeat the same day over and over. If it is not reset, then the loop will slip and utter chaos will ensue." Chara was pacing around in the air, very worried as well.

"She knows how to RESET but not how Determination works? Frisk, I think she's hiding something from us." Frisk shook their head.

"She said that an ymbryne protects her wards, right? I think she just wants us to stay safe." They muttered.

"How is sending us back to the garden of the evil flower keeping us safe?!" Chara replied as the rain poured through their transparent body.

"As much as I love the Underground, I don't want to watch you die over and over! I don't want to see my Da-Asgore die, either!" Both children were obviously distressed, but not any more than their fellow peculiars as they watched Frisk have a very animated debate with nothing. And Millard was standing next to Emma, so it couldn't be him. For the sake of correct timing, they had already started Run Rabbit Run, so that played over the rain and Frisk's cries of 'I don't want to go back any more than you do!'.

"Frisk, it's okay. You aren't going to get hurt by this, I promise. The mask is just a precaution." Miss Peregrine assured, which snapped Frisk out of their worried shouts.

"Huh?" They said, as the song winded on and the rain kept pouring.

"It's alright, Frisk. The loop resets before any harm can come to us or the house." Frisk smiled, doubtful but willing to trust Miss Peregrine for their own comfort.

The song was finally beginning to fade as loud roars of engines came from the skies, followed by a fleet of World War II-era planes.

"Miss Peregrine!" The child cried, clinging to her, "The planes are going to attack us!" They held the mask tightly between their hands as one of the planes released a metallic object. It eerily whistled as it descended, leaving Chara screeching,

"EVERYONE'S GOING TO DIE!" as Frisk cried for Miss Peregrine's help. Suddenly they realized what the object was, and they promptly squeezed their eyes shut preparing to be blown to bits. And afterward, of course, it was back to the flower patch. The deluge of rain paired with the song and the bomb's warning of imminent death created a very unsettling piece. The other children had notably gathered around the topiary statue and watched the metal explosive come ever closer to their home. Now it was about to make contact and explode violently. Frisk mustered up all their Determination in order to prepare for Flowey's cruel act and all that would follow as Chara held on to the smaller child.

Strangely, there was no explosion. No chorus of screams to join Frisk's and no smell of burning metal. Frisk opened their eyes to see everything frozen in place, even the raindrops. The bomb's tip was right at the tip of the topiary statue's outstretched finger.

"Huh?" Frisk asked, very confused and baffled. Why did the bomb stop? Did something bad happen and now they were stuck like this forever? They looked to the other children who were, in fact, moving around and talking.

"Maybe this is the RESET!" Chara suddenly exclaimed, "It makes so much sense!" Frisk was silent, which wasn't an unusual occurrence but it was still a little odd in this situation.

"Hey Frisk, are you listening, I'm tryingggg-" They trailed off as they found out why Frisk had gone quiet. The rain started moving backward, as did the bomb. They flowed upwards and away, the house untouched. Everything rewinded faster and faster, the night spinning into the evening, day, and then the early morning. And, most notably, they did not meet the Underground's floor again. And Frisk had one and only one thing to say after all this:

"Miss Peregrine, I'm confused..."


	11. In Which Frisk Nods a Lot

Hello friends and peeps, I'm incredibly sorry for the long wait! And in my apology, I (finally) present to you Chapter 11 of An Odd Tale!

Miss Peregrine looked at Frisk. Frisk looked back at Miss Peregrine.

"If it's any consolation, Jacob reacted the same way." Frisk blinked.

"But I don't get it...Resets are..." They trailed, and Miss Peregrine decided to do some explaining.

"I should have explained it more. Resets only repeat the day. You may think nearly being hit by a bomb is downright terrifying, but it was necessary to make the loop at that time." Frisk nodded, although they still didn't understand.

"Yeah, I guess..." They replied.

"Might I add that you need to wear the gas mask next time." Miss Peregrine commented as everyone trotted back to the house to get ready for bed. For the second time, Frisk nodded.

Hours later, they woke to a new, sunshiny morning. They got out of bed and the sun was shining, put on their overalls again and got ready while the sun shined, and walked downstairs after taking one more peek at the star. They and all the other children had a delicious breakfast of eggs and ham and more eggs, among other foods.

A mere half hour after breakfast was when Jacob came back to see all the children running and generally having a good time in the garden. Miss Peregrine, however, looked less pleased with him than the others. He slowly toddled inside, and then, after around 15 minutes, he came outside and went over to Emma. Frisk, still being a curious child, decided to ask Jacob what he had talked about.

"It was just about how the people here can't leave the loop for too long." Frisk gave a confused look.

"But you left for a whole day. And yesterday we went out to the beach." He nodded, and replied,

"We can stay outside of a loop as long as we want, but they can't." He motioned to Emma, and to the rest of the peculiar children.

"Why not?"

"Because we're all supposed to be old, but we're not because of the loop. If we go away from it too long, we'll get old very quick." That time it was Emma who responded, who seemed more than a little bit stung by the idea of growing old, away from the people who lived in her home. Frisk nodded as though they understood because they did.

"Oh... Well, I didn't know a lot about phones either, and I've never been on a plane." They offered because it was true. Jacob merely shrugged and said sure.

"Well, I just can't talk about it anymore. It doesn't really matter that much, though."

"Are you kidding? Next, to Alphys' hoodlallies, your pocket phone is the most advanced phone I've ever seen!" Chara exclaimed, but no-one heard them (except Frisk, of course).

"Hey, your phone is really cool. It's one of the coolest ones I've seen, ever." Frisk commented, and Jacob's hand shifted in his pocket.

"Now I see why Miss Peregrine told me to not tell you about the outside world. The only other person from modern times is still fainting over my phone." Chara frowned.

"Hey. We just complimented your phone, man. Not cool." Chara muttered, aimlessly floating around like a bubble-or Olive without her shoes. They phased through Jacob. He made a confused face, and then Emma made a confused face.

"What?"

"Nothing." Emma gave him a skeptical look this time.

"Really. Then why did you just shiver like that?"

"I don't know, I just got suddenly got cold." Emma offered her hand, which was still gloved.

"I can warm you up, if you'd like." Jacob shook his head.

"It was only for a couple seconds."

"I didn't feel anything," said Emma, and it was true. Chara rolled their eyes and sighed dramatically, flinging themselves right through Emma's torso. She shivered.

"Never mind, it must have just been a breeze." Chara was laying on the ground, one hand stretched out, halfway into the dirt.

"Yeah," said Frisk, as they picked up a leaf that had fallen off a tree. "See?"

"Hey Frisk," said Jacob, "What was your peculiarity before your second soul broke? You don't have to tell us if it brings too many bad memories."

"Determination." They responded because it was simply the truth. It was the one and only special thing that they ever had.

"No, before that."

"Determination." They repeated.

"Did you never have a peculiarity before that?" Jacob asked, and they merely shrugged.

"I don't think so." The teenage boy furrowed his brow.

"So, if your second soul is broken and that 'Determination' thing is the only peculiarity you've ever had... Does that mean your second soul was always broken?"

"It means that I have Determination."

"But what is Determination?" He was starting to get annoyed.

"Being determined." Jacob groaned.

"No, but what does it DO?"

"It helps me to be determined."

"Could you stop being so cryptic?"

"We're not even in a crypt, silly."

"That's not what it means."

"Than what does it mean?"

"It means you're being confusing." Frisk shook their head.

"No I'm not, I'm telling you what Determination is."

"You're just repeating the same thing over and over!" Jacob exclaimed, and Emma (who was very tired of the banter) pushed the two apart.

"You two are like dogs fighting over a bone." She shook her head.

"Now we're even on comparing each other to dogs?" Jacob asked.

"Yes, we're even now. Now stop bickering at each other." Frisk began to say something, but Chara held a hand up to their face.

"Sorry Frisk, but I'm on Jacob's side because you could've just told them what it actually does. And I know you're thinking, 'But Chara, wouldn't they think I'm crazier than Flowey trying to flirt with an Echo Flower?' and to that I, I have to remind you that the girl standing between us and Jacob can make fire appear in her palms and be unaffected by it." It was a long and wordy explanation, but Frisk understood. They scratched their head, looking up at a cloud.

"Okey." It was apparently an unsatisfying response for Jacob because he gave Frisk an odd look and told them,

"Okay, I guess?" They both shrugged, and Frisk wandered over to another group, which happened to be Millard, Hugh, and Horace playing football.

"Oh, hello Frisk," said Hugh, a bee floating out of his mouth, "Would you like to play football with us?" The newest and youngest of Miss Peregrine's wards nodded happily.

"You can be on my side, that way it's an even amount of players," Horace said, waving a hand.

"Okey!" They replied, dashing over to his side of the field.

"So anyway," Horace kicked the ball to Frisk, "How did that yellow glow work? Can you do that at any time?" They shook their head as they kicked it back to him.

"I think it only works when my life is in danger." Horace nodded, swerving around Hugh.

"That makes sense, considering that the Hollowgast was about to eat you." Frisk stumbled, almost falling knee-first into the ground.

"Eat me?!"

"Didn't Miss Peregrine already tell you about Hollowgast?" Frisk nodded.

"She said that, but I thought it was just angry." Horace, not looking where he was going, bumped into Millard. They both fell down, allowing Hugh to snatch the ball and start running towards Frisk and Millard's unguarded goal.

"You were running around while actually HOLDING your soul! There's no doubt any Hollowgast would chase you for days, just for a shard of that red heart!" This made Frisk frown and stick their tongue out, even as they stood up and brushed the dust off their overalls.

"What would it even want with my soul, anyway? It's like glass, and who would want to eat glass?"

"That doesn't matter to a thing like a Hollow. As long as it's something that will make it less hungry and also bring it closer to being a wight, it'll eat it."

"And that even applies to motorcars, if you're wondering." He added, chasing after Hugh and the ball.

"That sounds very, utterly horrifying." This phrase surprised Horace a little, as most of Frisk's other phrases had been very short and casual.

"I've never heard you speak so formally before," Horace commented, to which the coverall-wearing child replied,

"Sometimes I just don't like talking." Chara, who was previously filling in as the unseen referee, cheekily said,

"Sometimes they don't even like to show emotion other than this," and then they made a straight line with their mouth, staring emotionless at their sleeves.

Frisk turned and gave them a look, proving that they surely did have emotions.

"Sorry, just trying to make a point." Chara sheepishly defended, as Hugh began to close in towards the goal area. He kicked it, sending it right into Chara's torso. The ball seemed to hover to all except Frisk, who could clearly see that the child was holding it with their pale, incorporeal hands. Both teams were outraged for various reasons.

"Millard, stop cheating, that's against the rules!" cried Horace.

"Hey, that was my goal shot! We could've scored a point!" lamented Hugh.

"I didn't do anything! I'm right here!" Millard exclaimed, gesturing to himself. He was still fully clothed, which only caused more of a ruckus.

"Then who stopped the ball?!" said Hugh and Horace.

"I don't know!" exclaimed Millard, and Chara dropped the ball. No-one had heard their call of how it was against the rules to kick a ball directly at a referee, ghost or not.

"That was certainly strange," said Millard, as he curiously tapped the ball with his shoe.

"Maybe it was the wind?" Frisk offered, not wanting to make everyone angry at the spirit referee.

"Then there's been some strange wind lately," said Hugh. Frisk, gaining a smile, started to run off with the ball, quickly running in the direction of Millard and Hugh's goal.

"Frisk! We weren't ready yet, we were still talking about strange wind patterns!" Millard exclaimed as he began to chase the child down.

"You never said 'timeout'!" They responded with a laugh, as they kept running. Soon Hugh joined the chase, and they were both approaching Frisk at an alarming rate. Horace was running as well, trying to get to a spot where Frisk could pass the ball to him. Frisk suddenly stopped, out of breath and doubled over.

"We've got you now, that ball is ours!" Hugh and Millard proclaimed at the same time, diving for the ball (at the same time). They both crashed into the ball.

"FOUL!" Chara yelled, and so did Horace.

"You know..." Hugh said, between heavy breaths, "...Maybe we should take a break from football..." Millard nodded, and Frisk nodded as well. They were very tired from all the running and sat down on the grass.

"Maybe we should lay down and look at the clouds..." The child said, pointing to the fluffy clumps of precipitation.

"No, that sounds boring," said Hugh, a few bees orbiting around his head, "I'm going to go over to Fi."

"Fi?" said Frisk, a bit confused by the strange nickname.

"Fiona, of course." The bee boy explained, to which Frisk smiled in an embarrassed way.

"Oh. Seems neat." They stayed sitting, looking up at the clouds slowly moving across the sky. Millard and Horace returned to their game of football, and Chara decided to retire from being a referee.

"You know, Frisk," said Chara, who was now sitting as well, "Even though our mountain adventure is basically over, I like this place. Though I kind of miss the danger and the conflict and of course, the running." Frisk nodded because they enjoyed their time Underground as well.

"Maybe it'll happen later. Who knows?" And so, the two children talked and stared at clouds, hoping for further adventure.

I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, I made it double length just for the occasion! And as for the next chapter idea, I'll end with this:

Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.


	12. I Wish They Would Explain Themself

Hello readers, peeps, and reviewers! Welcome to the 14th (not 12th!) chapter of An Odd Tale, in which Frisk and Chara get what they wished for.

(And the author is really sorry for writing a chapter for so long. Seriously though, I promise the posts will be more frequent sometime soon.)

P.S., you should really check out MadameMorphine, even if they haven't updated in a while. They would definitely appreciate your support!

* * *

After sitting around and watching the clouds roll, Frisk finally stood up. They smiled and kept looking at the clouds, but then paused.

"Chara?" They asked, and the ghost stood up as well.

"Yeah? Did you forget something?" They shook their head.

"No, but... Do you think we just jinxed ourselves?" Chara began to laugh.

"Really? That's what you were so worried about?! Of course we didn't jinx ourselves! For all we know, 'more adventure' could just mean a hike or a long walk through the forest. It doesn't have to mean someone being out to kill us." Frisk smiled, but they weren't so sure. If there was nothing to worry about, then what was the ominous feeling that had washed over them?

"Come on, Frisk, we didn't even wish on a cave star or anything. Nothing's going to happen. We're not all going to suddenly die." Chara remained adamant as they sat down again, half a leg falling through the soil.

"I don't know, Chara, I'm kind of freaked out."

"You freak out about a lot of things, Frisky Bits."

"Yeah, but I'm not making stuff up, okay?

The other children began to take notice of Frisk's animated conversation.

"What's Frisk doing?" asked Emma, occasionally looking back to see the child waving their arms and proving that they were not paranoid.

"Maybe they have an imaginary friend?" Jacob offered, and Emma rubbed her chin confusedly.

"It could be. They still seem to be..." She watched as Frisk claimed that they were not being ridiculous, "Maybe, just a little bit..."

"You were going to say crazy, weren't you?" Jacob asked, and Emma shook her head.

"Of course not, I'm just not used to seeing someone arguing so intently with the air."

"It's an imaginary friend, and Frisk thinks it's real. I used to think you were just a made up story, remember?" said Jacob, and Emma briefly laughed.

"Right."

"How about we talk about something else?" They both heard Frisk ask.

* * *

"We're both silly, I guess." They seemed pleased with this solution and smiled.

"I guess so," Chara replied, bringing their incorporeal feet to the ground adding, "Do you want to play tag or something?"

"No, it won't be fair." replied the younger child. Chara raised a dark-colored eyebrow.

"Why not?"

"You're a ghost," Frisk replied.

"So?" In response, Frisk stuck a hand through Chara's torso.

"I can't touch you." Chara nodded.

"Good point. Do you want to do some stuff with the other people here?" They offered, and Frisk nodded.

"Race you there!" Chara narrowed their eyes, a grin taking over their face.

"You're on, Frolic." Frisk started off, but it wasn't a very good start. Chara ran too, though their shoes constantly fell right through the ground. The ghostly child's lead grew larger, making it harder for Frisk to catch up.

"You can't catch me!" The sweater-wearing ghoul called, "I'm uncatchable!"

Frisk had stopped moving for some reason. Chara noticed this and looked back at them.

"Giving up already?" They teased. They noticed that Frisk was already standing near the other children. And the self-proclaimed narrator was still running and went straight through a tree, leaves staying non-rustled and undisturbed as the ghostly child grumbled.

"I still won!" They called, as the last of their right shoe phased through the the tree's trunk.

"Over here!" They waved to the ghost as the other children looked at them.

"What?" They said to the group, "They ran too far and almost crashed into a tree."

"Well, okay. Anyway, do you want to play? I still think we have some time left to play." said Olive, who was a bit to the left of Millard.

"Okay!" Frisk said cheerfully, as Chara finally got off of the ground again.

"Frisk, can we do something with less people? I enjoy being around you, but this is really pushing it." The younger child gave them a slight frown and pointed to the other children around them.

"They're fun, too." Chara rolled their eyes in response to this.

"Fine, but I'm not going to do any more games with them today. I need a break." They promptly disappeared from view, even to Frisk, and the wavy-haired child looked at the group of odd people around them.

"We were going to play, right?" They asked Olive, and the tiara-wearing girl nodded several times and said,

"Yes, come on, let's go! I know the perfect game to play!" Both of them ran off to play a game that had something to do with jumping around in squares.

Once Olive and Frisk were both tired from playing their game, Frisk sat down on the grass.

"Why are you sitting down in the grass like that?" Olive asked, a bit curiously.

"It feels nice." Olive nodded, and then said,

"I can sit down with you." Frisk smiled, showing that they were missing one of their teeth. Nobody had noticed it before because they hadn't looked closely enough.

"When did you lose your tooth, Frisk?" She asked, even more curiously.

"I was running away from a warrior fish. She was taller than you and me together, and had a pointy blue spear!" They went on to describe how the fish warrior (who was Undyne, but Frisk did not tell Olive that) chased them all over a dark and maze-like bridge.

"And then, after I was done running away, she suddenly appeared! And she cut the bridge between her and me in half, making me fall down with it! And that's how I lost this tooth." Olive seemed amazed by this story, leaning towards Frisk with wide eyes.

"Did you really do that, Frisk?" The overall-sporting child nodded, and it was true. They did do it, after all.

"That sounds really brave! I don't think I could do that."

"I think you could." Frisk responded, "I bet you would be even more brave than me!"

"Really? You do?"

"I do! You could probably just float away from her."

"But if I float away, I would get stuck on the ceiling!"

"Yeah..." They both started to talk about different ways that could be done to get away from the spear-wielding fish lady.

"You could take off one shoe," Frisk said, but then Olive shook her head.

"I would still float." The overall-wearing child scratched their chin, and then said,

"What if you... had someone holding you with a rope?"

"Who would be there to hold me with a rope?" questioned the tiara-wearing child.

"Bronwyn," said Frisk.

"Why would Bronwyn be there?" Olive questioned.

"Because you would all be there," Frisk replied.

"But why would we be down there? Wouldn't Bronwyn pull us all up, or catch us before we fell?" Frisk nodded and said,

"Yeah, that's a pretty silly idea. I think that Miss Peregrine would make sure that no-one falls."

"So then the fish-warrior-lady wouldn't chase us, and instead we could have a nice picnic," replied Olive.

"That's a good idea."

"Miss Elephanta! Frisk! Come inside, please!" A voice called, and it belonged to Miss Peregrine. Frisk got up after Olive did, and they both quickly went inside.

* * *

Both Hugh and Millard were sitting next to each other inside when an idea dawned in Millard's head.

"Hugh, I was thinking," Millard, to which the bee-boy replied,

"So? You do that often."

"Yes, but this time it's about Frisk."

"What about them?"

"I think I figured out what their peculiarity is." Hugh gave him a curious look.

"You did?"

"Yes, I did. I think Frisk has telekinesis."

"What makes you say that?" asked Hugh, to which Millard responded,

"Well, all those times that things started to float or move on their own, Frisk was there. The phonograph started playing by itself after Frisk woke up, our ball was suspended in the air while Frisk joined our game, and both of their souls float." Hugh gave him a look and then said,

"Their second soul is broken, Mil. How could they still have a working peculiarity if it's broken?"

"If their soul is broken like you say it is, how could they enter a loop? Don't they need both souls to do that?"

"It's still there, it's just broken. And wouldn't've Frisk already told us that if it was true? And don't say they would feel unusual because they've already seen all ours." Hugh explained.

"Claire was shy about showing Jacob her peculiarity."

"Maybe they have a very sad, horrible past, and they don't want to talk about it." Hugh shot back, and Millard stood up.

"I'm going to settle this once and for all by asking Frisk."

"Don't be surprised if they say no to you!" called Hugh, as Millard went on his way.

Frisk, meanwhile, was drawing a picture of them baking a pie with Toriel. They may have been 'cryptic' about Determination, but they still loved their friends under the mountain and did not hesitate to show it.

"Hello Frisk," said a voice, and the child looked up to see a floating set of clothing holding a notepad.

"Hi Millard!" they cheerfully said back, "I'm drawing a picture, do you want to see it?" They turned their paper towards him.

"Is that you?" He asked, looking down at it, and Frisk nodded.

"Anyways, I was wondering... What's your peculiarity?" Frisk looked up at him.

"Oh boy, here we go again," said the voice of a certain supernatural occurrence.

"Are you going to be really vague again? Because if you're going to be super vague again, I'm leaving." It was an odd thing to say, considering the spectral pre-preteen could not wander too far or they would start being pulled back towards Frisk. Speaking of Frisk, their mahogany-ish-brownish eyes went to the ghost for a moment, then back to Millard and his notepad.

"Determination." Chara groaned and their mouth formed a wide, large frown.

"Okay," said Millard, writing that down, "What does it do? Is it passive like my peculiarity, or can you do it at any time if you focus?"

"Both," replied Frisk, because it was technically true.

"Both? Okay... So, what does it do?" Millard asked.

"It makes me Determined," replied Frisk. Millard wrote down 'determination' for the second time.

"So, by definition of the word, you're unusually good at being perseverant?" Frisk shook their head.

"No, that's different. That's Perseverance. I have Determination."

"So if it isn't the quality of persevering, then what is it?"

"Now's your chance! Tell him the truth!" said Chara.

"The truth?" Frisk replied, temporarily forgetting about Millard.

"Yes, I want the truth," said Millard.

"Well, it has a lot to do with my heart."

"What about your heart? Frisk, are you listening? Frisk?" But Millard would get no further answer, for Frisk had put their full focus on their drawing. Millard sighed, looked at his notepad, and walked away.

"Frisk! What the heck was that? I told you to tell the truth!" said Chara, very annoyed with these antics.

"But I did." They muttered as they started coloring Toriel's dress.

"That doesn't count! You were confusing again!" the older child protested, and then added,

"One of these days you have to tell them the truth, Frisk."

"I know." Frisk continued to color the dress in.

"Sometime soon, Frisk."

"Yeah." At this point, Chara raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"You're a purple tortoise with green spots, Frisk."

"Yup." Chara narrowed their red eyes.

"Frisk! You're not even listening! I just said 'You're a purple tortoise with green spots, Frisk,' and you said, 'Yup'. Yup!"

"Sorry, I'm busy drawing right now."

"Fine." They sighed, "I won't pester you about it anymore. For now." And so, Frisk continued to color in Toriel's dress. They finished the drawing and put it in their backpack (which had finally been returned), ate supper with the others, and was now close to falling asleep in the covers of a bed in a room they shared with Claire. And unbeknownst to the sleepy child, their wish for adventure and conflict was about to come true.

* * *

Sorry for the cliffhanger. See you next chapter, where conflict does happen! And yes, the chapter title is a pun.


	13. An Avocet Arrives

Hello friends, peeps, and viewers! Welcome to the 15th chapter of An Odd Tale, where conflict finally happens! (Listen, I swear it will happen this time!)

Also, don't forget to check out MadameMorphine, who helps me a _lot_ during my writing process. I don't know how many ideas and inspirations they've given me at this point!

Anyway, on with the chapter!

(P.S., I used some direct quotes from the book again, please don't sue me Mr. Riggs)

* * *

Frisk, who had finally settled down to bed, had no idea what was going on. It was the dead, insomniac Chara who had heard feet shuffling around from below.

"Hey, Frisk. I heard something downstairs," said Chara. Frisk mumbled and tiredly moved their hand in a shooing motion.

"Come _onnn._ " Frisk slowly opened one eye, and looked at Chara sleepily.

"Not now...tired..." The ghost crossed their arms and said,

"What if everyone's dying, Frisk? What if there's a fire, and everything's going to burn down?"

"Bed.." replied Frisk. Chara thought for a moment, and suddenly said,

"Hey, what if one of those _friends_ of yours are hurt? You'd want to help them, right?" Frisk opened their eyes a little.

"Don't you want to go and see? I'm sure nothing that bad will come from it."

"If nothing is happening, you can't bug me again," muttered Frisk, quietly shifting out of the bed. They slowly creeped across the floor as to not disturb Claire, and soon they were at the door. Looking back at the other child in the room once again, they creaked it open carefully. Finally, the door was open wide enough for them to go through, and they began to leave the room.

"Frisk?" asked Claire groggily.

"So much for being quiet," complained Chara, arms crossed and back slumping. Frisk looked back at Claire, surprised.

"Um...Uh...I was just, you know..." They were unable to construct a proper answer and just kept blabbering nervously.

"Aren't we supposed to be in bed?" This caught Frisk (who was halfway through the doorway) off guard even more.

"Yeah, but...There's this thing...And, you know...I, you know...uhmm..." Chara had both of their hands on their face in frustration.

"You are just too much sometimes."

"I'm just gonna...go?" said Frisk, taking another step. And another."You can come with if you want.." They were heading towards the stairs, where the sounds of hurried footsteps could be heard even clearer. Claire agreed and they both curiously went down the stairs. At this point, they could hear the voices of some of the older children, and, more importantly, Miss Peregrine.

"What do you think is going on?" asked Claire, to which Frisk merely shrugged. They both went forward and towards the living room, and Frisk barely looked around the doorframe.

"Frisk, what do you think you are doing up this late?" said Miss Peregrine, turning to look at the pajama-clad child.

"I heard a lot of footsteps and..."

"And?"

"And I was worried someone was in trouble..." Miss Peregrine narrowed her eyes, and then said,

"I may not like that you are awake so late, but you are right." Next to her was an unfamiliar lady rocking in one of the chairs.

"Frisk, go up and wake the other children. Miss Densmore, come here and help me with Miss Avocet." Frisk looked back at Claire, who had apparently stepped out from behind the doorframe while they weren't looking.

"Got it, Miss Peregrine," said Frisk, already heading towards the stairs.

"I really want to to know who this 'Miss Avocet' person is. It's not that they seem suspicious, I just- _feel_ something bigger around them. Like some sort of ominous cloud has been forming far away, and now someone has come to tell us that it exists." This came from Chara, who was pacing back and forth a few inches above the steps.

"Are you sure?" Frisk asked, looking at them.

"It might not even be true, but...We'll have to wait and see, won't we?" Frisk continued up the stairs, and went to everyone's door, one by one, telling them what Miss Peregrine had told them and what they knew.

Finally, the children had gathered in the sitting room, where Miss Peregrine was still trying to help the newcomer that was Miss Avocet. Miss Peregrine looked at the collection of children and began to give more tasks.

"And Frisk." They looked at the headmistress, waiting for a task.

"I appreciate your concern, but do not do that again. Do you understand?" Frisk nodded and apologized.

"Good. Now, Miss Bloom, I need you to fetch another warm cloth."

Frisk decided to go to the hall, where the rest of the children were. They began to say something, when Millard suddenly cut them off.

"That's Miss Avocet. She's another ymbryne. She was injured, and that's all I know so far." Frisk was very surprised. The invisible boy had just answered their question!

"How did you-" They began, but Millard cut them off again,

"I could see the look of worry and curiosity on your face, Frisk. And besides, it's the question we're all wondering right now." And it was true, because most of the other of the children nodded (except for Enoch, who was being his usual grumpy self).

"Where's Jacob?" asked Claire, looking around as if she would find him in a corner or behind a chair.

"He's probably left forever by now. Wouldn't blame him, because he's nothing like us."

"Don't say that! Maybe he's looking around the island." Frisk said, hurt that Enoch would say such a thing.

"Yeh, looking for the best place to leave from."

"That's not true."

"And why not? How would you know?"

"I trust him."

"Not everybody's a saint, you know. He could already be well on his way back to America, already starting to forget us."

"He wouldn't do that!"

"How would you know that? You don't even really know any of us." Frisk looked surprised at this remark.

"Not everyone in the world is as mean as you think."

"Yeah, well maybe you're just talking nonsense." Chara was getting very annoyed with Enoch. Sure, they both equally disliked people, but Frisk was a different story. They tried to see things in the best light, and always hoped for the best. And no matter how hard the raccoon-eyed boy argued, that wasn't going to change.

"If everyone in the world was mean, then why would we be helping that lady?"

"You're as stubborn as a mule, you know that?" Enoch said, turning and scooting away with a huff. Frisk looked at him for a few more seconds before turning towards the other children again.

"Are you sure these people are actually your _friends_ , Frisk? Because that kid doesn't seem to like you. I'm just saying." They ended with a ghostly shrug.

"Is Enoch usually like that? I was just trying to give you guys hope," said Frisk, propping their head up with one arm.

"Oh, he's just jealous. He always acts like that," replied Millard.

"He does like you, he just doesn't want to say it," Claire added, and Frisk sighed,

"I just don't like how he talks so mean about Jacob. It's not nice to say things like that."

"I know, but that is just the way Enoch works." Millard said.

"Well, I still think he's wrong about Jacob," replied Frisk, shaking their head.

"He wouldn't just leave forever, right?"

"We can't be sure, but we can hope," Millard said, watching as the other children helped their headmistress tend to Miss Avocet.

"What do you think even happened?" asked Horace.

"Perhaps they forgot to reset their loop," said Claire. Enoch gave a quiet snicker.

"Bet you it was hollows," Enoch said, a grin creeping across his face, "Bet they ate the lot of 'em, too! Right down to their boots!" Frisk and Olive shrieked, Claire clapped her hands over her eyes, and Chara just frowned.

 _Knock knock knock!_ Three knocks came from the front door.

Jacob opened the door, hoping he wouldn't be scolded by Miss Peregrine for coming in so abruptly. At the same time, Horace was kneeling down and comforting all three. He said something about 'linger berries' and they all shrieked this time, even Claire.

"Stop that! Leave them alone!" Hugh shouting, sending a squadron of bees after Horace.

"What's going on down there? And is that you, Mr. Portman?" called Miss Peregrine, and Jacob smiled nervously.

"Yes, Miss Peregrine, it's me," said Jacob, slowly walking over to the sitting room door, opening it. Chara put their head through the door, relaying what they heard to Frisk.

"What are you doing here so late?"

"Oh, I felt that something really bad had happened, so I wanted to make sure all of you were safe."

"But at this hour?"

"If it will make you feel any better, I was extra careful." There was a pause for a moment, and Chara turned their head to Frisk.

"Okay, now she's going to scold that guy, so don't be startled if I start yelling." Frisk gave them a strange look and shrugged.

"Right, I'm going to go back to listening," the ghost said, and they did. They imitated the ymbryne to the best of their ability, but stopped taking it seriously very quickly and broke into fits of laughter every other sentence.

"Did you hear that Frisk?! She said-she just!" Chara erupted into another burst of laughter, twisting in the air.

"Now she's talking to Jacob again!" said Chara, fully invested in their eavesdropping. They leaned in again, their head disappearing through the door, giving the impression that Chara was headless.

"Uh, and some guy named Abe lived here, and he's also related to Jacob? I think that's what she said, at least." They paused for a moment, then continued.

"Yeah. So then this Abe person, he wanted to be normal so he left. Which is stupid, because if I had to choose between staying in a mansion where I can live forever and being ' _normal'_ _,_ I'd stay here because-" They looked back at Frisk, who was no longer paying attention.

" _Frisk!_ Aren't you going to listen to me?" But then their ears caught a noise, and they perked up.

"Frisk! It's the old lady! She's waking up!" Chara pointed to the door, one hand sticking right through it.

"I've got this," they said, pushing their whole torso through the door, listening eagerly.

"She's talking! We're finally going to know what happened!" After this, they fell silent as they listened.

"I've come to warn you," said Miss Avocet, leaning forward in the chair, "You _must_ be on your guard. You musn't allow yourselves to be taken by surprise, as I was." Then, a haunted look came across her face, as if she'd just seen many frightening things.

"Oh," said Chara, mouth hanging open in surprise. The old lady began to talk again, speaking about how the soul-stealing wights had snuck into her loop late at night.

"A pair of them," she had said, going on to describe how she and one other ymbryne had tried to save their children, but couldn't. Chara, of course, was soaking up every word. It was like a big, mysterious adventure, unfolding before them. Was this the dangerous adventure that Frisk had wished for?

The old lady talked about how the other ymbryne had been kidnapped by the wights. Unable to contain themselves any longer, the green-sweatered ghost spun themselves around to face Frisk.

" _The old lady! She-_ " But before they could finish their sentence, Frisk did it for them.

"She just had her loop stolen."

"Wait, you heard?" And then Frisk nodded, and it became evident that all of the other children had heard. Or, they had heard enough to be concerned.

"Poor Miss Avocet," said Claire, whimpering.

"Poor Miss Avocet's children," added Olive.

"Miss Peregrine, are they going to come for us, too?" asked Horace, concerned.

"We'll need weapons!" Millard cried.

"Battle-axes!" Enoch agreed.

"Swords!" said Chara, shaking their transparent fist.

"Bombs!" yelled Hugh.

"Stop this at once!" Miss Peregrine said, raising her hands up.

"We must all remain calm. Yes, what happened to Miss Avocet was tragic, indeed, but it is a tragedy that need not be repeated here. However-" As she said this, Chara crossed their arms and sighed dramatically, and said,

"Of course there's a however. There's always a however."

"-Henceforth, you will only travel beyond the house with my consent, and only in pairs. If you observe a person unknown to you, even if they appear to be peculiar, inform me immediately." And, after that, she ordered them all to bed.

"Frisk, I think you were right. We're finally getting a new adventure, a new journey!" They floated around more slowly now, but their voice showed they were still excited.

"Chara, people died. It's not funny," Frisk whispered, and Chara crossed their arms in feigned offense.

"I didn't say it was funny, I said it was an adventure!"

"Chara..."

"Fine, fine. It's a mystery."

"That's not what I meant."'

"Fine, I'll take it seriously. It's a serious adventure." Frisk frowned.

"I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight, Frisky-Bits."

"Uh-huh."

And Frisk went to sleep, one day behind them, and another one waiting in the distance.

* * *

I'm sorry for not updating as frequently as I said I would, but hey, at least conflict happened, right?

Well, I'll see you all in the next chapter! See you then!


	14. Jacob Arrives With Bad News

Hello friends and peeps, welcome to Chapter 16 of An Odd Tale, where the conflict is rising, and things are actually happening in the plot!

There's some more direct quotes in here, so here's my second reminder that I'm not Ransom Riggs.

(P.s., if you feel like it, leave a review! I appreciate tips and ideas a lot)

* * *

The next few days were very, very boring. Going outside alone was banned, and everyone took shifts endlessly watching for danger through the windows. Chara, of course, could go outside as long as Frisk was watching through the windows, but even then, there was not much they could do.

Frisk tried to make the most of it, but became restless easily. It didn't help that the garden seemed so wondrous and great. Millard started to sigh dramatically whenever he entered a room, and soon Chara began to do the same. Hugh's bees stung and swarmed and chased until finally, one day, Miss Peregrine banished them outside. Which, of course, meant Hugh spent all his time pressed against the glass, staring at his bees. Olive seemed to be having fun, though, ditching her shoes and crawling along the ceiling. Naturally, Chara started doing this, too. Enoch disappeared into the basement to tinker with his clay men, which Frisk did not want to be any part of. They had curiously gone to look one day, only to find some scene out of a horror movie. Little clay men lay all over the ground, covered in blood and strange-looking, even by Frisk's standards. Some had three or more hearts stuffed into one body, others were fused together in a frightening clump of body parts. No, Frisk did not want to watch Enoch's activities at all. Miss Peregrine was always busy, taking care of Miss Avocet and clinging to her schedule the best she could.

Finally, an equally mundane silence fell over the home. Miss Peregrine, of course, tried to keep everyone interested, but it didn't work. The children stayed bored, and tired, and quiet.

"Hey Frisk," said Chara, as the smaller child was staring longingly out the window, "This sucks." Frisk continued to stare out the window silently.

"Hey, Frisk. Want to see how far I can go before I can't go?" But Frisk simply muttered, "6-7 meters," and went quiet again.

"Hey, Frisk, do you think Undyne is better than Mettaton? I do." There was no reply.

"She's really great, you know." Again, no response. Just silence, between the both of them.

One day, Horace started to shriek. It was very alarming, and for the first time in a while, Frisk perked up with curiosity and Chara showed themselves. Even from where they were, they could faintly hear him yelling about boiling seas, clouds of ash and smoke, and death. Which was very concerning, to say the least, considering Horace had prophetic dreams.

* * *

And then, another night, Jacob came back with bad news. Something about Martin, Hollows, and Wights. Miss Peregrine shooed all of the children into another room, which was enough distance from the sitting room that Frisk could not hear, nor could Chara eavesdrop.

And very bad news it was. So bad, in fact, that Miss Peregrine made an announcement about it.

"We've just had word of a new threat," she said, giving Jacob a nod.

"A man outside our loop has died under suspicious circumstances. We can't be certain of the cause or whether it represents a true threat to our security, but we must conduct ourselves as if it did. Until further notice, no one may leave the house, not even to collect vegetables or bring in a goose for the evening meal." And then, there was the collective groan.

"I hope this doesn't apply to me because I'm a ghost that can pass through walls. It would be really boring and bad," said Chara, but of course only Frisk heard it.

"Frisk, come on, let's go somewhere else. I'm starting to hate this room, because all we ever seem to get here is bad news. Bad news and shifts staring out a window." Chara tugged on Frisk's sleeve, and it pulled them forward slightly.

"Why?" Chara gave them a look of frustration and annoyance.

"Well, what makes you think sitting around doing nothing is fun? I know you don't like it either, so let's dislike it in a different room for once."

"Fine," Frisk said, sighing quietly and looking around, "Where do you want to go?"

"How about we go find Emma? If anyone knows how to vent, it's a fire magic user," said Chara, pointing upwards.

"Sure," said Frisk, nodding and walking up the staircase. They slowly and gently opened the door, peeking their head in. Inside was Enoch, Bronwyn, and Emma.

"Hello," they said, stepping inside. Emma gave a subtle nod as she burned a page in a notebook. Frisk sat down on the side of the bed, resting their chin on their hands.

"I mean, I guess it's sort of better," Chara commented, looking around, "You know, this reminds me of this one painting back h- in the Underground. It's called 'Ground Prison', or something, and it shows a group looking up towards the Barrier."

Frisk merely nodded, and, after a few moments (or minutes), Jacob walked in. Probably with more bad news.

* * *

Yes, I know, this is a shorter chapter than usual, but I didn't want to spend another two months trying to type down 1-2 thousand words, only for it to not progress the plot. But, I promise, next chapter the real conflict happens! And don't worry, I know I'm starting to write Chara somewhat like Jack. They're in the same spectrum of hating people but just on different levels.

Well, see you next chapter!


	15. Taking a Trip to the Town

Hello friends, peeps, and reviewers! Welcome to Chapter 17 of An Odd Tale, now with more line breaks! And remember, don't forget to check out MadameMorphine and their awesome content!

(Also I don't own this, so don't sue me for using direct quotes, Quirk Books/Ransom Riggs)

Begin the chapter!

* * *

"Jacob! You're back!" said Emma, seeing that Jacob had entered the room.

"I never left," replied Jacob, "Miss Peregrine wouldn't let me." And then he explained what had happened.

"And she said I'm banished if I try to leave." And then, Emma's entire notebook set on fire.

"She can't do that!" she cried, the book still on fire.

"She can do what she likes," Bronwyn replied, "She's the Bird."

Emma threw the book down and stamped out the fire. Chara raised their eyebrows.

"Oh, someone's really angry." They commented. Jacob spoke up, and said,

"I just came to tell you that I'm going, whether she wants me to or not. I won't be held prisoner, and I won't bury my head in the sand while my own father might be in real danger." Emma nodded, and said,

"Then I'm with you."

"You ain't serious," said Bronywn, crossing her arms.

"I am," replied Emma.

"What you are is three-quarters _stupid_ ," Enoch added, "You'll turn into a wrinkled old prune, and for what? Him?" Emma shook her head.

"I won't. You've got to be outside for hours and hours before time starts to catch up with you, and it won't take nearly that long, will it, Jacob?"

"It's a bad idea," he replied.

"What's a bad idea? She don't even know what she's risking her life to do," scoffed Enoch, now also crossing his arms.

"Headmistress won't like it," said Bronwyn, "She'll _kill_ us, Em."

Emma stood up, and closed the door.

"She won't kill us. Those _things_ will. And

if they don't, living like this might just be worse than dying. The Bird's got us cooped up so tight we can hardly breathe, and all because she doesn't have the spleen to face whatever's out there!"

"Or not out there," said Millard, who apparently had been there the whole time.

"But she won't like it," Bronwyn repeated.

Emma took a step forward.

"How long can you hide under the hem of that woman's skirt?"

"Have you already forgotten what happened to Miss Avocet?" Millard said, "It was only when her wards left the loop that they were killed and Miss Bunting kidnapped. If they'd only stayed put, nothing bad would've happened."

"Nothing bad?" said Emma, doubtfully, "Hollows can't go through loops, but wights can. That's how those kids got tricked, after all. So what do you think we should do, just sit on our bums and wait for them to come bursting through the front door? What if they come armed with guns instead of disguises?"

"That's what I'd do," said Enoch, "I'd come in once everyone's asleep and then _BLAM!_ You're dead." To add further emphasis, he fired an imaginary gun at Emma's pillow.

"Enoch!" protested Frisk, "Don't say stuff like that!"

"It's only good strategy," he replied.

"Like _you'd_ know battle strategy." Chara said, glaring.

"Well I don't like it," said Frisk.

"Who cares what you think? Not a wight."

"Just stop it, okay?"

"You know, when we ever face a wight, asking it to stop isn't gonna work."

"That's not what I mean. You're being mean and rude."

"Are you really _that_ sensitive? It's just a joke."

"I don't like that stuff, okay?"

"Well, I do, and I don't give a-"

" _Enoch. Frisk._ Stop it." In the midst of the argument, Bronwyn had come between the two, and pushed them apart.

"Okay, fine," Enoch said, dropping his hands down. Frisk looked away sheepishly, rubbing the back of their neck.

"Sorry."

"Now that everyone has calmed down, we need to make a plan." Emma walked to the center of the room.

"We have to hit them, before they know we know they're there. While we still have the element of surprise."

"But we don't even know that they're there!" said Millard.

"We'll find out," said Emma, as if that was enough explanation to get him on board.

"And how do you propose we do that? Wander around until you see a hollow? What then? 'Excuse me, we were wondering what your intentions might be, vis à vis eating us.' "

"We've got Jacob," Bronwyn pointed out, pointing to Jacob, "He can see them."

"I've only ever seen _one_ ," Jacob replied, unsure, "So I wouldn't exactly call myself an expert."

"And if he doesn't happen to see one? It could either mean that there are none to be seen or that they're hiding. You'd still be clueless, as you so clearly are now."

Everyone looked around, unsure.

"He's got a point," said Chara.

"Well, it appears that logic has prevailed yet again," Millard triumphantly said, I'm off to fetch some porridge for supper, if any of you would-be mutineers would like to join me." But, as he was opening the door, Enoch exclaimed,

"I've got it!"

"Got what?" asked Millard. Enoch turned to Jacob.

"Enoch turned to me. "The bloke who may or may not have been eaten by a hollow— do you know where they're keeping him?" Jacob thought and then said,

"At the fishmonger's."

"Good. I know how we can be sure." He rubbed his hands together.

"How?" asked Millard, to which he replied,

"We'll ask him."

* * *

"Frisk, I'm not sure if this is a good idea anymore," said Chara, peering at Enoch, "How is he supposed to talk to a dead person? I mean, I'm dead, but only you can see and hear me."

"I'm going," said Frisk, as they retied their shoes. Also going was Emma, Jacob, Enoch, and Bronwyn (reluctantly).

"If we all go, the Bird won't be able to banish Jacob. She'll have to banish all four of us." This was Emma's reasoning for going.

"But I don't want to be banished!" said Bronwyn.

"She'd never do it, Wyn," Emma explained, "That's the point. And if we can make it back before lights-out, she may not even realize we were gone." After that, everyone agreed to the idea.

"Frisk, if you don't back out now you won't be able to," said Chara, as Frisk was walking down the hallway and down the stairs.

"It's okay, Chara, we're gonna be okay."

"Are you sure? What if Enoch was lying?"

"Why would he lie to us?"

"Because he's a jerk, and that's what jerks do! They lie, and say mean things, and insult you..."

"But we have to go, we have to help everyone."

"But-"

"We're gonna help everybody, though."

"Fine, but if he ends up lying and things go wrong, don't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

After supper, Bronwyn, Enoch, and Frisk all gathered together on a flat part of the roof. Frisk had put the golden heart locket around their neck, and had a small bag of Astronaut Food in their pocket. Enoch was holding several cloths, each wrapped around something foul-smelling. Bronwyn was holding five dark raincoats. Millard was not there, because despite all the bribing the group had done, he had refused to come with.

"When will Emma and Jacob get here?" asked Frisk, boredly moving the locket around in their hands.

"Soon, I hope," Bronwyn replied, looking down the vent. It was a few more minutes before Emma and Jacob finally showed up, and Brownwyn gave the both of them a powerful hug, handing everyone a coat.

"How are we supposed to get down?" asked Jacob, to which Olive popped her head above the edge of the roof.

"Who's keen for a game of parachute?" she asked, smiling eagerly.

"You first," said Enoch, immediately pointing to Jacob.

"Me?" Jacob said, taking a step back.

"Grab hold of Olive and jump," Emma explained.

"I don't remember this plan involving me shattering my pelvis," Jacob nervously replied.

"You won't, dummy, if you just hang on to Olive. It's great fun. We've done it loads of times." She thought for a second, and then added, "Well, one time."

Jacob smiled anxiously and stepped towards the edge.

"Don't be frightened, Jacob!" Olive encouraged. Jacob muttered something about falling, but held onto her anyway. Then, they both slowly floated to the ground, until they eventually landed softly.

"Huh. That's pretty cool, actually," said Chara, impressed.

"Well, anyway, want to go next? I'll float down with you, if you want." Frisk nodded and stepped over to Olive, putting their arms around her and stepping forward. And, just as promised, Chara floated themselves down right next to them.

"Wasn't that fun? Now I bet you wish you could do it all the time, huh?" They said, watching as Emma took her turn. Once everyone else had taken their turn, Fiona (who had been holding onto Olive previously) and Olive waved them goodbye.

* * *

After running all the way to the end of the bog, everyone took a break to catch their breath. Enoch took out all of the cloths again.

"Take these," he said, handing one to Enoch, "I ain't carryin' them all." Bronwyn unwrapped it, and the source of the foul scent was revealed to be a weird chunk of meat. She was appalled by the smell of it and thrust it away from her.

"Ugh, what _is_ this?! It stinks!" Enoch frowned.

"Calm down, it's only a sheep's heart," he said, handing another to Jacob.

"I'm not touching that. He can't make me, _you_ can't make me, because I am _not_ holding that," said Chara, trying to be as far away from the smell as possible. Frisk felt the same.

"I'll chuck my guts if I have to carry that," complained Bronwyn, to which Enoch said,

"Just put it in your slicker already."

After this, everyone weaved there way through the solid parts of the bog.

"You know, I honestly have no idea how either of us made it through here without falling in swamp muck once," commented Chara, staring at all the bog holes, "It's almost like we had some sort of outside force that made it so we weren't able to do that."

"That's crazy," Frisk replied.

"I mean, who knows, it could be true. You never know."

Eventually, they finally reached the cairn. Outside, the wind was howling and the rain was coming down in sheets and no-one could see, because Emma was unable to make a fire in the rain. The only light was the flashes of long, thin lightning. So, everyone remembered the bog's solid ground as much as they could, and trudged forward against the storm.

It was not any better in the town, where things were blowing around and one single, wet sheep trotted around, lost.

Finally, they found the shop, but the door was locked. Bronwyn kicked it twice and it swung open. And Emma, who had finally dried her hand, lit a flame. Jacob led everyone around until they reached a small icehouse with a dozen troughs full of ice.

"Which one's he in?" asked Enoch, looking around.

Jacob shrugged. "I don't know." Emma walked around, shining the fire around to get a better idea to where the body would be. Except every trough was the same: filled with ice and dead fish, with no major indication that the body of a dead man was in it. Which meant that everyone had to search for him through the troughs.

Bronwyn shook her head. "Not me. I don't want to see him. I don't like dead things."

"Neither do I, but we're all in this together," said Emma. Chara giggled.

"She said the same thing as the song from Boarding School Musical!" They said, a smile coming across their face. Frisk, who had no idea what that movie was, was very confused.

"Never mind, you don't get that reference. Hey, anyway, aren't you going to go through the ice?" Frisk stood, leaning over the trough with a disgusted look on their face. Chara sighed.

"You're going to owe me for this." They grabbed an armful of the ice and heaved it onto the floor.

"You know, I think I'm already starting to feel nothing in my fingers." Chara commented, and then added, "Oh wait, that's just normal me! I can't feel anything at all!" They continued scooping up ice and throwing it onto the floor.

"Also, you're welcome."

They kept on taking out the ice and putting it on the floor, until at one point, Bronwyn shrieked and jumped backwards. Everyone gathered around to see what had happened. Then, they saw it. A hand, coming out from the ice.

"I daresay you found our man," said Enoch, digging out the rest of the man. Frisk looked away, and the others peeked from between their fingers.

"Wow. That man is very dead," said Chara, floating over to him. "He's basically been torn apart. Do you think he's a ghost yet?" Chara began looking around for the man's spirit.

"Because it'd be nice to talk to another ghost."

Meanwhile, Enoch leaned over the man.

"He's pretty far gone," he said, studying the corpse intensely, "I'm telling you now, this might not work."

"We got to try," said Bronwyn, "we came all this way, we at least got to try."

Enoch reached into his pocket to reveal one of the hearts.

"If he wakes up, he ain't going to be happy. So just stand back and don't say I didn't warn you." Everyone took a step back, except for Frisk, who was still standing near their trough, Enoch, who went up to the dead body, and Chara, who hovered above him and the man.

Enoch plunged his hand into the ice and swirled it around until he stopped suddenly and raised the sheep heart high above his head. It sputtered for a moment, and then turned gray. He threw it on the ground and stretched his palm out towards Jacob, who handed him another heart. The same result happened, and Enoch threw it onto the floor.

"Come on, Mr. Person, I know you're there somewhere! Are you dead? Are you a ghost? If you're a ghost, just tell me, I'm a ghost too!" Chara called, trying to help bring him back. "If not, just come over to the land of living for a second!"

However, this did not work, and now Bronwyn's heart was the only one left. Enoch squeezed it like his life depended on it, and it began to shake.

"Rise up, dead man! Rise up!" He shouted, as the heart trembled.

Suddenly, the man sat right up, causing Emma to scream and everyone to jump backwards.

"Woah, he's alive!" said Chara, also startled. One eye wheeled around to focus on them, his head turning in their direction.

"You can see me?" the child said, leaning towards him, and looking into his one, cataracted eye. He stared back. Jacob looked in the direction of where Martin was, and saw nothing.

"What's he looking at?" asked Jacob.

"I don't know," replied Emma.

"You _can_! Well, anyways, we're hear to ask you some questions. Or, at least, that person over there is." They pointed to Jacob, and the dead man slowly brought his attention to the teenager.

"That's him. You can go and stare at him now." They looked at Frisk.

"And the list of people who can see me grows larger." Jacob leaned very closely to the formerly dead corpse to hear what he had to say. After a few moments, one tear rolled down his cheek. Chara curiously leaned forward, until they were as close as Jacob. They heard him say he wanted to go back.

'Back to where? Is there an afterlife? When I died, it was just dark...' They thought, intrigued.

'How come he went there and not me? Was it...' They shook their head. No, that was stupid. It was probably their own fault they didn't go to this other place.

Jacob looked at Enoch, whose grip on the heart was faltering.

"Hurry now, mate," he said, trying to hold it as tightly as he could. Jacob thought for a moment, and then turned to the group.

"A hollowghast did this to him. It's somewhere on the island."

"Ask him where," said Enoch. And Jacob did. The man, who was apparently named 'Martin', replied quietly, and it was evident he was in pain. Then, his breath became funny and he looked behind himself.

"What do you want with me? I didn't come to your door," Chara said, but then they realized that the revived cadaver was looking behind them. A flashlight beam swept across their transparent body, and then they heard it. The person the dead man was talking about.

" _Who's there!_ "

* * *

Whew, I'm glad I finally finished this chapter. Well, anyways, see you in the next chapter, where the Frisk and friends meet the mysterious owner of the flashlight!


	16. How Does Jacob Know This Guy, Anyway?

Hello there friends, peeps, and viewers! Welcome to Chapter 18 of An Odd Tale, where the group finally confront the mysterious owner of the flashlight.

Also, in this world of not-so-subtle references, _High School Musical_ is the modern remake of the movie _Boarding School Musical_ , which came out decades before. The plot and songs are really close, except the original was about dancing, not theater/theatre.

With that aside, let's get on with the chapter.

* * *

Emma quickly closed her hand, making the only source of light the flashlight beam. Everyone turned around to see a man standing in the doorway, holding a flashlight and a pistol.

Enoch took his hand out of the ice while Emma and Bronwyn blocked the body from the stranger's view.

"We didn't mean to break in. We was just leaving, honest!" said Bronwyn.

"Stay where you are!" shouted the man, in a strange, flat voice. He wore several coats layered on top of each other, and Frisk could just barely make out a pair of dark sunglasses and a wide-brimmed rain hat.

"Mister, we ain't had nothing to eat all day," Enoch said, pretending to act his (loop) age, "All we come for was a fish or two, swear!"

"Is that so?" the stranger said. "It looks like you've picked one out. Let's see what kind." He shined the flashlight from side to side as if he was deliberately trying to blind everyone. "Step aside!" He barked.

He saw the ice-filled body _and_ smiled deviously.

"Goodness, that's an odd-looking fish, isn't it?" He looked at the formerly-alive corpse blankly, not having the tiniest bit of a negative reaction. He kept smiling, and said,

"Must be a fresh one. He's still moving!" He moved the beam to the mangled face, watching the eyes roll back into their sockets.

"Goodbye, dead man. I guess I won't be seeing you as a ghost," said Chara, seeing the poor, butchered man's life drain away for good. Frisk still dared not to look at the body but rather decided to look at the stranger with the flashlight.

"Who are you?" demanded Bronwyn, stepping forward.

"That depends on whom you ask," he replied, "And it isn't _nearly_ as important as the fact that I know who _you_ are." He pointed the flashlight at Emma and began to speak.

"Emma Bloom, a spark. Abandoned at a circus, when her family couldn't sell her to one." Emma looked very uncomfortable as he said this. Then, the man pointed the beam to Bronwyn.

"Bronwyn Bruntley, berserker and taster of blood. Didn't know her own strength until the night she snapped her rotten stepfather's neck." He turned to Enoch next.

"Enoch O'Connor, dead-riser. Born to a family of undertakers who couldn't understand why their clients kept walking away." Then, he turned to Frisk.

"Sam Samuel, peculiarity unknown. Went missing for a few months, only to return a few days ago, here." Chara's eyes widened at how this random stranger knew Frisk's name, which they never told anyone- not the ghostly child, not _anyone_.

"Stop talking like you know us, you stupid, creepy jerk," they said, brimming and boiling with anger. Then they went quiet, dangerously quiet. Jacob looked at Frisk, confused.

"Wait, your name is-"

"I'm _Frisk_ ," they replied, clearly very uncomfortable.

"And Jacob," said the stranger, finally shining the flashlight towards Jacob, "Such peculiar company you're keeping these days."

"How do you know my name?" asked the teenage boy, suspicious. The man cleared his throat, then began again in a shockingly accurate New England accent,

"Did you forget me so quick? But then, I'm just a poor old bus driver, so you wouldn't remember." It seemed like Jacob knew this man from somewhere because he clearly recognized the voice.

" _End of the line, Portman!_ " quipped the man, joining in on Jacob's trip through memory lane.

"Mr. Barron?" asked Jacob in disbelief, leaning forward to see the stranger's face. In response, he laughed and spoke in a different voice.

"Either that or the yard man. Yon trees need a haircut, give yah good price!" Jacob seemed even more befuddled.

"How do you know those people?" He asked, very confused. And, the strange man laughed once again.

"Because I _am_ those people." Jacob's eyes went wide in horror, realizing what this meant. Emma, who was trying to follow this series of strange accents, asked,

"What's happening? Who is this man?"

"Shut up! You'll get your turn," the man hissed.

"And people wonder why I hate people," Chara said, crossing their arms and glaring daggers at the back of the stranger's head.

"You've been watching me, haven't you?" said Jacob, angrily, "You killed those sheep. You murdered Martin."

"Who, me?" the man replied, feigning innocence.

"I didn't kill anyone."

"But you're a wight, aren't you?" asked Jacob, causing Chara to cry,

"I knew it! There _is_ more to this creep then knowing way too much about us!"

"That's _their_ word," the wight replied, ignoring Chara, because, as usual, only Frisk could hear or see them at this point.

"How'd you know where to find me?" Jacob asked, confounded.

"Why, Jacob," the wight said, his voice changing again, "You told me yourself. In confidence, of course." It was some sort of Central American accent, soft and reserved. He tipped the flashlight upwards to finally reveal his face, which was apparently very, _very_ familiar to Jacob. He said something, but it was too quiet for even Chara to hear.

"Augh! He led the guy right to us!" Chara exclaimed, putting their hands on their head and shaking it.

"What kind of idiot does that?!" they yelled, as Jacob stepped backward, shocked.

"Th-the neighbor," he began, as if all of the pieces of this puzzle had finally fallen in place, "The old man watering his lawn the night my grandfather died. That was you, too." The man grinned devilishly.

"But your eyes, they-" The wight cut him off.

"Contact lenses." He took it off with one finger, revealing a completely blank eyeball.

"It's amazing what they can fabricate these days. And, if I may anticipate a few more of your questions, yes, I am a licensed therapist—the minds of common people have long fascinated me—and no, despite the fact that our sessions were predicated on a lie, I don't think they were a complete waste of time. In fact, I may be able to continue helping you—or, rather, we may be able to help each other."

"Please Jacob," Frisk pleaded before Emma could say it, "Don't listen to him!"

"Don't worry, I trusted him once. I won't make that mistake again." Then, Jacob looked at Emma and gave her a nod to confirm it. The wight, however, continued as if no-one had said anything at all.

"I can offer you safety, money. I can give you your life back, Jacob. All you have to do is work with us."

"Us?"

"Malthus and I," he said, and then added,

"It _was_ Malthus, James, and I, but a certain person here lead him to his death." He looked at Frisk with a harsh glare, making them flinch and shrink down a little. Then, he cleared his throat.

"Say hello, Malthus." He looked over his shoulder, at a shadow that had entered through the doorway. There was a wave of a disgusting stench that overtook the room. Chara doubled over, Frisk's eyes started to water, Bronwyn gagged and stumbled back, Emma clenched her fists together angrily, Jacob told her to wait, and Enoch said 'blegh'.

"This is all I'm proposing. Help us find more people like you. In return, you'll have nothing to fear from Malthus or his kind. You can live at home. In your free time you'll come with me and see the world, and we'll pay you handsomely. We'll tell your parents you're my research assistant." The wight-man was trying to reason with Jacob. He raised an eyebrow.

"If I agree, what happens to my friends?" asked Jacob. The man absentmindedly waved his gun at the group.

"They made their choice long ago."

"Hey! We got here a couple of days ago! You said it yourself!" Chara protested angrily.

"What's important is that there's a grand plan in motion, Jacob, and you'll be apart of it." Jacob stood there for a moment, thinking. Frisk stood there, frowning, as Chara looked at him, muttering quietly.

"If he sells us out, I'm punching him in the face and there's no stopping me." Frisk looked at Chara, and whispered,

"He wouldn't, he's our friend."

"Look at him, Frisk. That guy is giving him an offer he can't possibly resist! All he has to say is 'yes', and everyone is going to end up like me! _Dead!_ " Jacob looked at Emma, who looked worried, and then to everyone else, who was equally worried.

The wight was losing his patience and was beginning to fail at hiding it.

"Well?" he asked, "What's your answer?"

Jacob looked up at him, and said,

"I'd die before I did anything to help you."

'Yes!' Frisk thought, 'He made the right choice!' They looked at Chara, a triumphant twinkle in their eyes.

"Huh," Chara said, "I wasn't expecting that."

"Ah," said the man, "but you already helped me." He started to move towards the door.

"It's a pity we won't have any more sessions together, Jacob. Though it isn't a total loss, I suppose." He grinned again, sending a chill down Frisk's spine.

"The five of you together will finally be enough to shift old Malthus out of the debased form he's been stuck in for so long."

"Oh no," said Frisk, "I don't want to be eaten!"

"Don't cry, it's degrading," said Chara, crossing their arms.

"We'll just have to kill them, that's all," said Bronwyn, as if that was an easy task like going to the store and buying something.

"Wish I could stay and watch!" said the wight, stepping out of the door, "I do love to watch!"

And then he was gone, leaving them alone with a monster.

* * *

And that's the end of the chapter! I know I gave Frisk a name that _isn't_ just Frisk, but don't expect them to be referred to as Sam anytime soon.

In the next chapter, Frisk and co. will face off with Malthus, and confront Golan (the reason I don't refer to him as Golan in the story is because Frisk and Chara don't know him as Golan, they just know him as some wight).

Well, anyway, see you in the next chapter!


	17. Just Keep Running!

Hello, and welcome to the 19th chapter of An Odd Tale! Once again, here's your every-other-chapter chapter reminder to check out MadameMorphine and their wonderful content! Well, anyway, on with the chapter!

* * *

They were alone with the hollowghast in the dark, cold shack. The twisted wheezing of its breath could be heard as everyone backed away until they eventually backed into the wall and could go no further. They all stood there, cramped tightly, bracing themselves for when the beast would pounce on them.

"So this is it, then. After it eats you, you'll either go back to when you last saved, or this thing will take your SOUL, making me disappear as well. What a way to go out." Chara spoke, staring in the direction of the hollowghast.

"Can you see it?" whispered Frisk, and Chara shook their head.

"It's too dark in here. And besides, I can't see them, that's what that Jacob guy does."

Speaking of Jacob, he turned to Emma and quietly said,

"I need a light."

Emma, who was still reeling from the wight's reveal, stood there for a moment doing nothing, before creating a flame in her palm. The shadow of the creature was cast on the wall, and Frisk could only feel sorry for Jacob, who was able to see it in full, horrible detail. Emma made her flame grow even brighter, asking what the monster wanted. Jacob managed to stare at it for a few more seconds, and then replied,

"It's playing with us. It knows we're trapped."

"We ain't any such thing," growled Bronwyn, clenching a fist, "Just gimme one square go at its face. I'll punch it's bloody teeth in."

In Chara's opinion, Bronwyn reminded them of Undyne- strong, brave, and always protecting her friends. Chara admired all of these traits, for they were traits they never saw during their life on the Surface. Humans on the Surface didn't care who they hurt, as long as they became more rich or famous or powerful. Chara hated those things more than anything in the world. And that's why, at that moment, Chara understood two things: That Frisk was not like other Humans because they _weren't_ Human in the first place, and that Wights (contrary to what the one they had met claimed), were _very_ Human.

During all of Chara's thoughts and realizations, several things had occurred. One: Bronwyn charged towards the Hollow, just as she promised, and had thrown an ice trough on it. Two: Bronwyn kicked a hole in the wall. Three: She was trying to get everyone to get outside through it.

While trying to process what had just happened, Chara felt as if they were being pulled toward the wall at a very fast rate. Unsurprisingly, Frisk, being the smallest, was the first crawling out into the rainy night. The ghostly child phased through the old, rotting boards, and looked back at the small shack.

Bronwyn was walking back to the building, arms outstretched.

" _BRONWYN! RUN!"_ cried Emma, trying to get her to move away. But she didn't, in fact, she put her arms onto the shack, and then slowly backed up.

"What's she doing?" asked Chara, watching intently.

Their answer came quickly, as Bronwyn charged towards the small building at full speed, and rammed her shoulder into the corner. The structure fell apart immediately, blowing out a dusty cloud of ice shards and wood chips.

Chara grinned excitedly.

"Frisk, did you see that?!" They exclaimed as Frisk said,

"That was amazing, Bronwyn!"

Everyone else agreed, laughing and hugging her. Though, it didn't take long for them to stop and try to comprehend what had just happened.

"Jacob, how did that wight know so much about you? And us?" asked Emma.

"And me?" chimed Frisk.

"You called him doctor," Enoch said, suspiciously.

"He was my psychiatrist," replied Jacob.

" _Psychiatrist!_ " Enoch repeated, "That's just grand! Not only did he betray us to a wight, he's mad to boot!"

Emma was very angered by this, and one hand began letting off smoke.

"Take it back!" Emma yelled, violently shoving Enoch with her one free hand. Enoch was getting ready to shove her back, just as strongly, when Jacob pushed them both apart.

"Stop!" He yelled, turning to face Enoch.

"You're wrong. I'm not crazy. He let me think I was, all though all along he must've known I was peculiar. You're right about one thing though, I did betray you. I told my grandfather's stories to a stranger and led him to you."

"It's not your fault, you couldn't have known we were real," said Emma, her hand no longer smoking. Enoch shot him a dirty look.

"Of course he could've! Abe told him everything. He even showed him bloody _pictures_ of us!" The boy yelled.

"They didn't know me," Frisk offered.

"See, you led him to someone he didn't know was here!" retorted Enoch, using Frisk' statement as a further point.

"Hey, that's not what they meant!" said Chara, putting a hand on their hip.

"He tricked you," Bronwyn said, to Jacob.

"I just want you to know that I'm sorry," Jacob said, to everyone.

"It's all right," Emma said, hugging him, "We're alive."

"Yeah, Jacob, we forgive you," said Frisk, nodding. Chara shrugged.

"Hey, just because you forgive him doesn't mean I have to, you know." They then went silent for a moment, and added,

"What? He led you to a soul-stealing beast of evil. And that's coming from me, a ghost."

Frisk's eyes flickered to Chara for a second. 'You're not evil, you're my friend,' they wanted to say, but couldn't, because they still had yet to explain Chara and the workings of Determination.

"We're alive for now," said Enoch, looking back at the crushed shack.

"Enoch's right, that wight is still out there," Frisk agreed, and then stopped, realizing something.

"What?" asked Bronwyn, "What's wrong, Frisk?"

"The loop! Our friends!" They exclaimed, a panicked look on their face, "What if he's going to take them?!"

"Oh god, you're right," said Emma, looking in the direction of the boggy forest.

"Well then, we'd better get there before he does," said Jacob.

"And before _it_ does," added Bronwyn, pointing to the crushed shed, which was beginning to move and shift.

"It's still _alive_?!" Chara exclaimed, watching the broken boards move, one by one.

"I'm fresh out of houses to drop on it, also," Bronwyn pointed out, and it was true.

Frisk stared at the pile, frightened of what was within it, and seemed frozen in their fear.

"RUN!" Someone yelled, and Frisk snapped out of their fright-induced daze and began to go as fast as they could carry their little legs. They were at the back of the group, and despite being very close to the others, was constantly looking backward to see if the bloodthirsty being was about to eat them.

"Frisk, stop doing that and run! I'll cover for you!" Chara said, turning themselves around so they could constantly be on Hollow-watch.

The group ran out of the town and it's cottages, scurried through the fields, and tried their best not to slip and slide on the rain-covered terrain of the ridges.

Then, Enoch slipped, which would have brought Frisk down from sheer surprise if it wasn't for Chara loudly yelling,

" _STOP!_ " And they did, helping Enoch up, and losing their spot as the last person in the process.

Near the top of the ridge, Bronwyn lost her balance, fell, and began to slip backward. Chara tried to pull on her but found themselves unable to materialize their hands onto hers, and simply let go. Emma and Jacob went back and heaved her up, and after that, they all started running again.

"Jacob, do you see it?" asked Emma, who was unable to light a single spark in the pelting rain.

"No, it's too dark," he replied, desperately searching for it. Then, there was a bright flash of lightning, and Jacob suddenly announced that he saw it and that it was coming for them.

Everyone started going down the other side of the ridge, trying their best to stay on level ground. Most of the time, however, they were left sliding and scooting on their knees.

Another flash of lightning and Jacob shouted,

"If it catches us, it'll kill us all! If we split up, it'll have to choose. I'll lead around the long way, and try to lose it in the bog. The rest of you get to the loop as quick as you can!"

"You're mad!" replied Emma, "If anyone stays behind, it should be me! I can fight it with fire!" Jacob shook his head.

"Not in this rain, and not if you can't see it!"

"I won't let you kill yourself!" Emma shouted.

Jacob wasn't going to argue any longer, so he and Emma took the long way back as Frisk, Enoch, and Bronwyn ran ahead, towards the house.

"They're going to die, it's official," said Chara, looking back with worry.

"They can do it, I believe in them," Frisk said, also looking back.

"Come on, let's go, we have to warn everyone!"

* * *

When they came to the house, Bronwyn swung open the door, and began, "Miss Peregrine, we-" but she stopped, cut off by silence, and notably, no Miss Peregrine. Or Miss Avocet, or anyone.

"Where'd everyone go?" asked Enoch, peeking around.

"Miss Peregrine?" asked Bronwyn, walking through the parlor.

"I don't see her," said Chara, "Do you think the Hollow-thing got to them first?"

Frisk shrugged, peeking behind a potted plant.

"Your friends seem too large to hide behind the plant, so they are not hiding behind it. Maybe check somewhere else?" Chara offered.

Frisk went to the hallway, and it was empty.

"No-one here either..." Chara said, squinting, "Seems suspicious."

Frisk walked through the hallway, calling their friends' names.

"Hello?" They asked, peeking around the corner, "Are you there?"

There was no-one, again. Just the basement door. Frisk went to tell Bronwyn and Enoch that they were unable to find anyone, but then a voice rang out.

" _Wait!_ Frisk, we haven't checked the basement yet." It was Chara, pointing to the basement door.

"I guess," replied Frisk, going over to the wooden door. They turned the handle, but it only rattled and did not open the door.

"Locked," observed Chara. Frisk thought for a moment and then ran back to Enoch and Bronwyn.

"Hey! What about finding the key?" Chara protested, pointing back in the direction of the door.

"Enoch, the basement door," said Frisk.

"Yeh, what about it?" asked Enoch.

"Did you lock it?" Hearing this, Enoch made a confused face.

"Of course not, why would I need to?"

"Enoch," Frisk said again.

"What?" Enoch replied, beginning to become annoyed.

"The door is locked." Frisk led them through the hallway, around the corner, and to the door. Enoch turned the handle, but it did not open the door.

"I think the key's somewhere around here..." He stuck his hand into a nearby potted plant, trying to feel something, and then stopped.

"What? It's gone..." He said, trying to see if it was buried somewhere in the soil. He looked back at the other two and shook his head. Bronwyn looked at the door.

"Move outta the way, I've got this," she said, taking a few steps back. Frisk and Enoch did as told. Bronwyn studied the door for a moment or two, before charging into it shoulder-first.

"Woah!" Chara exclaimed, watching as the door burst off of its hinges and crashed down the stairs, splintering and breaking.

"Hello?" said Frisk, peering down.

"Frisk? Is that you?" came a voice, specifically Hugh's.

"Are you okay?" Frisk asked, and rushed down the stairs (although, they were careful to avoid the broken door). In the room, there was not just Hugh, but also everyone else.

"Why are you here?" They added, looking up at the mangled, wooden rectangle.

"It was a wight with a gun," said Hugh.

"He tried to take me but I bit him," added Claire.

"He took Miss Peregrine and Miss Avocet!" Olive squeaked.

"When did this happen?" asked Bronwyn, who had followed Frisk downstairs.

"Only a short while ago," said Hugh.

"Where's Jacob and Emma?" asked Olive, looking up at the empty doorframe above.

"We split up," replied Enoch, stuffing one hand in his pocket.

"But _where_?"

Enoch shrugged. "Somewhere else in the bog."

"Where did he take Miss Peregrine?" asked Frisk, as everyone went upstairs together.

"We don't know. He locked us in the basement before he left."

"Just _great_ ," Chara complained, "We don't know where Emma and Jacob are, and now that soul-stealing maniac is on the loose! Plus, he also has the ymbynes."

Frisk looked up at Chara and shrugged.

"I hope they come back soon," said Claire.

"For all we know, they could be dead. They did go chasing a Hollow, after all," said Enoch.

Then, the front door opened, to reveal Emma and Jacob.

"You're alive!" Bronwyn cried, and Frisk and Enoch were standing next to her. She wrapped her arms around him in a great, powerful hug, before finally letting go to shake his hand.

"I'm sorry I called you a traitor," Enoch said to Jacob, "I'm glad you're not dead."

"Me too," replied Jacob.

"Are you okay?" asked Frisk, concerned.

"Two arms and two legs," Jacob said, shaking them around to show that they were still there.

"And you won't have to worry about the Hollow anymore. We killed it."

"Oh, stuff the modesty!" Emma said, proudly, "You killed it."

"Amazing," said Frisk, but they weren't smiling, and neither was Enoch and Bronwyn.

"What's the matter?" asked Jacob, concerned.

"Where's Miss Peregrine?"

"She's gone," replied Bronwyn, downtrodden. "Miss Avocet, too. He took them."

While Hugh and Bronwyn explained the situation, Frisk snuck away from the group and slipped into the dining room.

"Chara, I'm scared, what's going to happen?" Chara sat on the table, swinging their legs back and forth.

"How am I supposed to know?" Chara said, shrugging.

"I just want everyone to be okay," said Frisk, looking back at the door.

"Well, they won't be if that man comes back. Might I remind you, he has Miss Peregrine."

"And Miss Avocet," said Frisk.

"Yeah, her too."

"Maybe Jacob can help. He can see them," said Frisk. Chara shook their head, a bit of their translucent hair flopping around,

"Frisk, he only killed one, and that was _without_ that wight interfering."

"Don't you want our friends to be okay?" asked Frisk.

"Of course I don't want your friends to die," said Chara, as if it was obvious. "Who do you think I am, some sort of lunatic who wants to destroy everything in sight?" They then smiled at Frisk jokingly.

"Maybe you should SAVE. I mean, you haven't done it in a bit and there's a SAVE Point right there." The ghost pointed to the glowing yellow star in the corner. Frisk stared at it in thought, then nodded. They walked over to the star, bent down, and touched it. It shone in the way it always did, bright and blinding.

"The fact you survived an encounter with such a nightmarish creature fills you with Determination. HP restored." In all honesty, Frisk had not lost any HP during the encounter but they still felt better nonetheless. As they slipped back into the parlor room, some sort of plan was being discussed.

"The outside's getting torn apart by a storm. Nobody's getting far in a bo-Oh, hey Frisk." Jacob looked down at the short, overall-clad child.

"He's got to be on our side, so what are we larking about here for?" asked Emma, before also looking at Frisk. "Where did you go?"

"The kitchen," Frisk said. Emma continued on talking.

"Let's get to the docks already," she said, gesturing to the front door.

" _Maybe_ he's at the docks. That is if he ain't gone yet. And even if he ain't and we somehow manage to ɹnd him in all this dark, and without getting holes ripped through our guts by shrapnel on the way, there's still his gun to worry about. Have you all gone mad?" said Enoch sourly.

"Fine, then!" Hugh yelled. "Let's just give up and have a hot cup of tea, shall we?" He glared at Enoch, beginning to tear up.

"How can you not even _try_ , after all she's done for us?" He said, wiping one eye with his sleeve. Emma was going to say something before there was a very faint sound of footsteps and yelling. Hugh looked through the window and squinted.

"It's Fiona," he confirmed, watching as she waved her arms as she called out. It was too loud for anyone to hear her from inside the house, so Hugh swung open the door and started running to her. Everyone else followed, including Frisk (even though they were getting tired from all the running they had been doing).

By the time they had reached Fiona, Frisk was very, very exhausted and out of breath. They looked at Fiona and saw her eyes were wide and wild, and she was trying to pull Emma down the path. Hugh put his arms around her shoulders, trying to keep her from hyperventilating.

"Millard followed him!" She said, pointing behind herself, "He was hiding when he shut us all down in the basement!" Her voice was actually a bit hard to understand, but Chara (who did understand Fiona's ravings) relayed it to Frisk.

"Where to?" asked Jacob.

"He had a boat."

"See," Emma said. "The docks!"

"No," Fiona replied, shaking her head. "It was _your_ boat, Emma. The one you think nobody knows about, that you keep stowed away on that wee strand of yours.'

"And then what?" asked Jacob.

"He launched off with the cage and was just goin' in circles. But then the tide got too rough, so he pulled onto the lighthouse rock."

And so they started running again, this time to the little cliff across from the lighthouse. Then, Frisk heard a voice quietly and harshly say,

"Get down!" It was Millard, hiding in the grass. With him, somehow, was everyone else from inside.

"Well, they sure got here fast," Chara commented, looking back at the house.

The others were all wide-eyed and scared, which Frisk didn't fully understand until there were three very loud bangs followed by three very bright orange flashes.

"Was that...?" Chara looked at the source of the flashes, their sentence trailing off.

"Do any bombs fall 'round here, Millard?" asked Emma, confirming Chara's suspicions.

"Come on, Frisk, let's get closer to the edge," Chara said, to which Frisk frowned.

"Fine, fine." The brunette ghost hovered just barely over the edge of the cliff, scanning the rocks of the lighthouse.

"Do you have any more boats hidden around here?" Jacob asked Emma.

"I'm afraid not," she replied.

"We'll just have to swim across."

"And what, get shot to pieces?" said Millard.

"We'll figure something out," replied Emma.

Millard sighed dramatically. "Lovely. Improvised suicide."

Frisk didn't know what 'suicide' meant, but they figured it was a bad idea because of how dramatically Millard had sighed.

"Well?" said Emma, looking at the group. "Does anyone have any better ideas?"

"Not me." Chara had returned from the very edge of the cliff.

"If I had my soldiers..." Enoch said, trying to form a plan on the spot.

"They'd fall to pieces in the water," replied Millard.

No-one else could think of anything, so there was a short silence before Emma said,

"Then it's decided. Who's in?"

Jacob raised his hand, then Bronwyn. Frisk looked around, and then slowly stuck their arm up in the air.

"You'll need someone who the wight can't see," said Millard, also raising his hand.

"Five's enough," said Emma, "Hope you're all strong swimmers."

Chara frowned at this.

"Oh, now you've done it. Did you even want to do this?"

"I have to help," the small child replied, putting the big black raincoat on for the second time.

"You don't _have_ to, you know," said Chara, who did not put on a coat. "The four of them would be just fine."

Frisk shook their head.

"Five is more than four." Chara sighed after hearing this. There was no changing Frisk's mind now.

"Well, okay then."

As they said this, Frisk waved goodbye to Olive, and Hugh, and Claire, and to Fiona.

"Good luck!" said Olive.

Then Frisk turned to the other group, and on they went.

* * *

Well, that's the end of the chapter! Next chapter: the end of book one and the beginning of book two! See you then!


	18. Save the Bird (Part 1)

Hello, and welcome to the 20th chapter of An Odd Tale, where the plot of the first book ends and the plot of the second begins. As usual, I don't own all the dialogue that comes from the book. Now, on with the chapter!

(Additional note: Happy one year anniversary of this fanfic, my present is finally ending this too-long period of not releasing any new chapters)

* * *

They all shuffled through the grass, bent over halfways, like a group of second-rate secret agents. Then it was down to the beach path, where they all had to scoot down a little hill, spilling sand everywhere.

"You look ridiculous," said Chara, chuckling. Frisk ignored the sweater-clad spirit, continuing to tumble down. Then, a blast of noise and wind sent a powerful gust of sand into Frisk's hair, and just barely into their mouth.

"Ugh!" they said, trying to get it out. They were mostly successful, except for the fact that most of the sand didn't come out of their hair.

Nonetheless, sand-coated Frisk kept going along until they reached the beach, where Emma brought everyone into a huddle.

"There's a shipwreck between here and the lighthouse." She explained. "Follow me out to it. Stay low in the water, and don't let him see you. When we reach the wreck, we'll look for our man and see what's next."

"Let's get our ymbrynes back," Bronwyn agreed, with a nod.

They all crept to the shore and slid into the freezing water. Aside from the cold, it was actually pleasant at first. Then, the waves and the current started to push them back. After a little bit longer, a plane flew past and the following wave just barely pushed Frisk's head under the water.

* * *

By the time they reached the water, they were all breathing heavily. Frisk clung to the rusty old edge of the rusty old boat and looked up at Chara.

"Hey, you didn't drown," the ghost said. Frisk nodded. Then, Emma cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"Here's what I reckon we should do," she said, "Jacob and I find Golan while Wyn sneaks up behind him and knocks him out. Millard'll take the cage while Frisk makes sure Golan doesn't wake up. Any objections?"

Just then, there was a strange noise- some sort of _pop_ \- and then a second. Frisk ducked down slightly while trying to look for where the noise came from. It was the wight, or 'Golan', as everyone was calling him.

"Fall back!" Emma shouted, and they all went swimming to the other side of the partly-sunken boat. Once they made it, everyone's chests were heaving, and they were out of breath.

"So much for getting the drop on him," said Millard.

"He may be an evil bastard, but he ain't stupid," said Bronwyn. "He knew we'd come for him."

"We have to keep going," said Millard.

"Not now we can't!" Emma said, "He'll shoot us to bits!"

"He can't shoot what he can't see."

"You're not invisible in the water, dummy," said Emma, and it was very true.

"More than you are," said Millard, which was also true.

"Fine," said Emma. "If you think you can make it that far."

"Someone's got to be the hero," Millard replied, moving on to the hull of the boat.

Jacob yelled, "Stop! Look out!", and then Millard screamed and fell off of the hull and into the water. Everyone hauled themselves onto the hull and raced toward Millard, almost slipping several times. Golan, the wight, was firing at them, which made things even worse.

However, no-one was shot. Except for Millard, who was bleeding. The blood was covering his torso, and when Frisk saw it they winced.

"Yeouch," said Chara, seeing the blood run down his body.

"Millard, are you alright?" asked Emma, "Say something!"

"I must apologize," he said, sounding distant and far away, "It seems I've gone and gotten myself shot."

"We have to stop the bleeding! We've got to take him back to shore!" said Emma, now holding onto his left arm.

"Nonsense," said Millard, "That man will never let you get this close to him again. If we turn back now, we'll certainly lose Miss Peregrine."

There were more shots, and Frisk almost jumped up in surprise and fear.

"This way!" Emma yelled, "Dive!"

She didn't need to tell Frisk twice. They followed right behind Emma. Bronwyn and Jacob carried Millard, and Chara stared at Golan as they floated backward. They followed her until she came to a hole in the boat. Emma pushed herself down with some kind of ladder. They hesitated for a second before taking a deep breath and plunging in.

There was some sort of tube-pipe for breathing, though it only provided so much air. The water was salty and slightly red from Millard's blood.

Emma tugged on Jacob's shirt, and the three (Bronwyn went with them) went up to the water's surface. Chara pointed to the ladder with their thumb, getting Frisk's attention. Frisk looked at Millard.

"He'll be fine," Chara said, their voice somewhat muffled and distorted by the water, even though they were a dead ghost and did not have functioning vocal cords. Frisk looked at Millard one more time and pulled themselves up the ladder and out of the water.

"We can't stay here," whispered Emma. "Millard will bleed to death."

"It could take twenty minutes to get him back to shore. He could just as easily die on the way." This was Jacob, who was also speaking in a quiet voice.

"I don't know what else to do!" cried Emma.

"The lighthouse is close," said Bronwyn. "We'll take him there."

Frisk didn't really have anything to offer to the conversation so they ducked back under the water and went back to Millard. He was floating there, still breathing from the tube. In addition, he was also still bleeding. Frisk paddled over to the tube and borrowed it from Millard because they needed air to breathe.

And then Bronwyn was there, swimming to one of the doors. Frisk looked at Bronwyn confusedly until they watched as she started pulling it from the hinges. After two tugs, she had ripped it away and was carrying it back to the ladder area. Frisk finally decided to take a break from the tube, but Millard was too busy staring up the ladder after Bronwyn.

After a few moments, Emma came down and wrapped Millard around her shoulders, and Frisk followed them back to the water's surface.

"It's magnificent down there," Millard said dreamily. "Emma, why did you never tell me about the angels?"

"What angels?" asked Emma.

"The lovely green angels that live down below. They just offered to take me to heaven."

"No one's going to heaven just yet," Emma reassured him, though she sounded worried. "Just hang onto Bronywn, alright?"

"Very well," he agreed.

Then, everyone formed a line behind Bronwyn and her door. First, it was Emma and Millard, then Frisk, and finally Jacob. As they walked, the man named Golan shot at them, but the shots bounced off the door. This scared Frisk greatly, but they kept going forward anyway. As they reached the water, they all paddled after Bronwyn as she carefully kept the door right in front of her. Emma asked Millard things to keep him awake, but it just seemed to annoy him.

"Will you quit shouting and let me bleed in peace!" He said.

* * *

It only took a little bit to reach the lighthouse island again, and this time they made it onto land. Then, the Golan man fired at Bronwyn's door again and nearly knocked her over. Emma managed to balance her back onto the grass, and everyone quickly scrambled to get behind her before the man took another round at them. As he shot, one bullet zipped past the side of Frisk's ear and they nearly screamed from fright and surprise. The bullet went straight through Chara's nose, but luckily they were a ghost.

"Come any closer and I shoot them!" The angry man shouted, rattling some sort of cage.

"He's got the birds," Chara observed, watching as the two flailed around in vain.

"He's lying," said Jacob, "He needs them."

"You don't know that," replied Emma. "He's a madman, after all."

"Well, we can't just do _nothing_!"

"We'll rush him," said Bronwyn. "He won't know what to do. But if it's going to work we've got to go-" she paused for a second, "-NOW!"

And then she started sprinting towards the lighthouse at full speed. There was no stopping her now, so everyone had no choice but to follow. Near the lighthouse door, she said,

"Get to the wall!" And Frisk soon found themselves being pulled along by Jacob. As they took cover alongside him, they heard Bronwyn let out a powerful, thundering cry and saw a rectangular gray blob flying towards the lighthouse entrance. Then the Golan man screamed.

"I think I hit 'im!" said Bronwyn, joining the others.

"What about the birds?" said Emma, "Did you even think about them?"

"He dropped 'em, they're fine," she reassured Emma.

"Well, you could've _asked_ us before you went berserk and risked our lives!"

"Quiet," said Jacob. "What's that noise?" It was the sound of metal creaking and squeaking.

"He's climbing the stairs," replied Emma.

"You'd better get after him then," said Millard. Everyone looked at him, surprised.

"Not before we take care of you," said Jacob. "Does anyone here know how to tie a tourniquet?" Bronwyn tore off a piece of her pants.

"I do," she said, "I'll stop his bleeding; you two get the wight. I knocked him pretty good, but not good enough. Don't give him a chance to get his wind back."

* * *

Frisk had decided to stay behind with Bronwyn and Millard, mostly because of the fact they weren't ready to confront that Golan man. They watched as Bronwyn took the torn fabric and tied it around Millard's torso. He winced as she did this, which caused Frisk to wince.

"That looks painful. I'm glad I can't feel pain." This was Chara, who had finally decided to speak again.

"You know, Frisk, I think we should have followed those two up into the lighthouse," they said, looking up at the structure. "Who _knows_ what we're missing out on right now."

"Scary things," Frisk muttered.

"It can't be _that_ scary. I mean, we revived a dead man, ran away from a nightmare shadow creature, and then that man shot at us. Are you really telling me you were fine with all that but you're drawing the line at this?"

"Yes," replied the living child.

"So Frisk," said Chara, "What exactly do you plan on doing? You don't even know anything about medicine or taking care of injured people. Your version of healing is eating candy and going to magical yellow stars."

"So? It can't be that hard," said the wild-haired child.

"He's bleeding from the waist! He was shot with a _real_ gun with a _real_ bullet!" Chara said.

Frisk shrugged and leaned over Millard.

"Hi," they said.

"Hello," Millard said, lolling his head to the side to look at Frisk.

"Are you okay?" asked Frisk.

"I don't think so," replied Millard.

"You're bleeding," said Frisk.

"Not as much as usual."

"Well, I hope you get better."

"So do I."

"Wanna play a guessing game?" Frisk asked eagerly, trying to keep Millard awake.

"Perhaps," replied the bleeding invisible boy.

"Okay," said Frisk, smiling, "You have to guess a... animal."

Millard slowly nodded his head. "What color is the animal?"

"Green!" Frisk exclaimed, enjoying the game already.

"Is it a bird?" asked Millard.

"No," said Frisk, smiling.

"Is it an insect?"

"No," Frisk said again, still smiling happily.

"Is it a frog?"

"Guess again," Frisk said.

"A reptile?"

"Mhm." Frisk nodded.

"Does it have legs?"

"Uh-huh," said the young child.

"Does it change color?" asked Millard, now staring up at the sky.

"Nope."

"Does it like to climb things?" the invisible boy asked, his voice becoming distant again.

Frisk nodded.

"Is it a gecko?"

Frisk clapped their hands together. "Yup!"

"Want to play again?" they added.

"No thank you," said Millard.

Frisk nodded and went over to Bronywn, who was sitting nearby and watching the two.

"Bronwyn?" asked Frisk, "Will Millard be okay?"

"Of course, Frisk. My pant leg should stop his bleeding long enough for Jacob and Emma to come back."

"Bronwyn, when will Jacob and Emma come back?" the child asked, looking up at her.

"Whenever they save our birds," replied Bronwyn.

"Bronwyn, when will they save our-"

"There's no reason to get so worried. Everything'll be fine, you just wait." Bronwyn looked down at Frisk with an assuring look on her face.

"Okay, Bronwyn," said Frisk, but it still felt as though there was a knot in their stomach. They stared at the lighthouse worriedly.

"You know, I'm sure they can handle it. I mean, Emma can just melt the gun, right?" Chara said, sitting next to Frisk. Frisk kept looking at the lighthouse.

"But what if she can't? What if our friends get hurt?" Frisk asked, very worried. "What if that man takes our birds?"

"Relax, Frisk, I'm sure they'll be perfectly fine. If you ask questions like those, you'll just worry more. So just don't think about it." This came from Chara, who was trying their best to give some good advice.

"But what do I think about now?" asked Frisk.

"Whatever you want to think about," Chara replied.

"I want to think about... Jacob and Emma up there," Frisk said, looking up at the lighthouse.

"Do you think they're having a showdown?" Chara asked, resting their elbows on their nearly transparent knees.

"Showdown?" Frisk asked, confused.

"You know, a fight of good against evil. Where the heroes take down the evil bad guys once and for all, and the day is saved," Chara explained.

"Do you think they'll win?" Frisk asked. Chara looked at their living partner.

"Well, of course! The good guys always win in a showdown!" The sweater-wearing ghoul said this as if it was obvious.

"Will Millard be okay?" Frisk asked Chara.

"Sure," Chara replied, although Frisk felt as though, somehow, Chara wasn't fully confident in this answer.

Then, from the distant top platform of the lighthouse, something came falling down, down to the rocks and the water.

"Frisk, up there! Something fell off the lighthouse!" Chara said, leaning forward and then pushing themselves off the ground to hover just a little.

"Go get Bronwyn!" The older, taller child said.

"Bronwyn!" Frisk cried, stumbling over to Bronwyn as quickly as they could. "The lighthouse! Something fell!"

Bronwyn looked up from adjusting Millard's tourniquet.

"Did you see what it is?" She asked, to which Frisk shook their head.

"What is it, Bronwyn?" Frisk asked, starting to get a bit worried.

"I think it's that wight," Bronwyn said, leaning forward to get a better look, watching as the clearly human form met the water.

Frisk sat there, staring at the rocks. Just a few moments later, Emma and Jacob burst out from the door.

Millard called out, "I'm alive!" which seemed like enough proof for Emma and Jacob. Jacob grabbed one of Emma's shoulders and pointed out a small wooden canoe. But, instead of running toward it, Emma pulled Jacob in the direction of the shore, running with him into the water. They disappeared into the dark blue, making splashing noises as they dove in.

Frisk could only watch and wait. The thought of this ate away at them, making them impatient and nervous.

"Oh no, our birds, and what about Emma and Jacob, and-" Frisk started to become worried again, staring out into the water.

"I don't know, we can't do anything about it right now. You're too small, and I can't go out far enough to help them, either," Chara said, trying to go as far as they could.

"I'll do what I can, just to get you to calm down," Chara said. "I see... Emma and Jacob. They're still looking for the birds."

The ghost youth studied the water, and on occasion, they tried to step forward, but found that they couldn't, as if they were tied to a string and had gone as far as it could reach.

Frisk waited for Chara to speak again, waiting for some source of hope— for Chara to yell "Hurrah! They're back with the birds!", and have everything be alright again.

But the next bit didn't come from Chara at all; they didn't need to say a word. Everyone could see a gray submarine emerge from under the water.

A human figure stood on top of it, weapon aimed at Jacob and Emma. Jacob quickly pulled Emma into the water, and Chara spoke up again.

"It's one of them, one of those nasty wights," they called, looking back at Frisk for just a moment before turning to look back at the sub and the wight.

The green-wearing ghost stood there motionlessly, observing the ongoing conflict. Frisk, too, did not move, caught up in Chara's news, the noise, and everything else. Both watched as the sub started to lower itself into the water again, its dark gray disappearing into the water.

A new noise joined the fray— a high-pitched, repeating shriek. Chara pushes themselves up, hovering several feet above the ground and looking at the water.

"There! I see something, in the water!" Chara called loudly.

"What?" Frisk replied, looking out at the waves, not seeing anything.

"Your bird, it's there in the water," Chara explained as if this was a very obvious thing to know.

Chara wasn't the only one who had spotted Miss Peregrine. Bronwyn was diving into the water, swimming over to Jacob and Emma. She grabbed onto them and started back for the shore. When she finally made it back, she let go of the other two, and they collapsed onto the ground, panting and gasping for breath.

Frisk had over a thousand questions to ask, and so did Millard and Bronwyn. But they all had seen enough to piece together the events of what had just unfolded. So instead they all held onto the other two for what seemed like forever. Bronwyn placed Miss Peregrine under her shirt, and Emma set out for her canoe.

After making it back to the main island, the other children crowded around Emma, Bronwyn, Jacob, Millard, and Frisk.

"We heard shooting!" One said.

"I saw a strange boat!" another cried.

"Where is Miss Peregrine?" a third called out. Bronwyn lifted up her shirt to reveal a soggy, soaking wet falcon.

"You did it!" Hugh triumphantly cheered.

"The bird, the bird!" Olive sang happily, "Emma and Jacob saved the bird!"

But, of course, Miss Avocet was still nowhere to be seen. Millard was still bleeding.

"We'll take you to a town doctor," Emma suggested.

"Nonsense," the bleeding and invisible young man said, "The man's never laid eyes on an invisible boy, and he wouldn't know what to do with one if he did. He'd either treat the wrong limb or run away screaming."

"It doesn't matter if he runs away screaming," Emma said. "He won't remember a thing once the loop resets."

"Look around you," Millard said. "The loop should have reset at least an hour ago."

"He's right," Chara agreed. "Look, smoke is hanging in the air. It shouldn't be like that, Frisk."

"In any case," Millard continued, ignoring Chara (for he couldn't see or hear them), "All the supplies I need are in the house. Just give me a bolt of Laudanum and swab the wound with alcohol. It's only the fleshy part anyway. In three days I'll be right as rain."

"But it's still bleeding," Bronwyn pointed out.

"Then tie it tighter!" Millard replied, annoyed. And Bronwyn did, which caused Millard to faint.

"Is he alright?" Claire asked, concerned.

"He's just blacked out, that's all," Enoch replied, leaning over the invisible, bleeding, and now unconscious boy.

"What do we do now?" Frisk asked, also looking over at Millard. There was a trace of worry in their voice.

"Ask Miss Peregrine!" Olive suggested.

"Right," Enoch agreed, "Put her down so she can change back. She can't tell us what to do if she's still a bird."

Bronwyn set Miss Peregrine down on the sand, and all of the children waited patiently for her to shift back into her original, non-bird self. But nothing happened, except for Miss Peregrine picking at her good, non-broken wing.

"Maybe she wants a little privacy," Emma said, "Let's all turn our backs."

And so they did, facing away from the falcon in a ring shape.

"It's safe now, Miss P," Olive said. "No one's looking."

Eventually, Hugh peeked over his shoulder.

"Nope, still a bird," he said.

"Maybe she's too tired and cold," Claire said, and the others agreed.

"Come on, Frisk, let's get your backpack," Chara said, as the others began to walk back to the house. Some were going to help Miss Peregrine warm up, while others were going to help Millard. The last of them were going to wait for Miss Peregrine to change back, in hopes that everything would turn back to normal with time.

Yet their hopes were wrong.

* * *

And that's it, the first part of the 20th chapter! I wanted to split it up into two parts because otherwise chapter 20 would have been _way_ too long. See you in the next chapter, and as always, I hope you enjoyed this one!


	19. Save the Bird (part 2)

Hi, welcome to the 20th chapter, Part 2! I promise you, this is where the first book ends. And of course, shout out to MadameMorphine for always being a wonderful source of help and ideas! Sorry for the wait, I was very busy between school, Map of Days, and now Deltarune.

Now, we begin the chapter!

* * *

They all walked back to the house in a line, looking at the ground beneath them. There were smoking craters all over, dirt upturned and thrown everywhere from the bomb impacts. Frisk saw this and a pit started to grow in their stomach, a seed of worry and dread and so many other things. But they said nothing, continuing on in silence.

Then, it happened. Enoch's foot hit something, and he looked to see what it was. The culprit was a brick, broken in half and badly charred.

This caused a panic in the children, some became incredibly worried while others started to dash frantically down the path. Frisk reached the lawn and nearly cried out in bitter surprise.

"It looks like a wasteland here," Chara commented, eyeing the smoking and charred house. The building was blackened and partially on fire, and the leafy statue had been replaced with a deep, hazy crater. A few of the other children began to sob at the sight of their home so viciously mauled and broken. Miss Peregrine joined in the panic, squawking frantically and hopping out of where she had been before (which happened to be Fiona's hair).

"Headmistress, what happened?" Olive asked, visibly distressed. "Why hasn't the changeover come?"

Miss Peregrine screeched confusedly.

"Please turn back!" Claire begged, but it was all in vain. Nothing happened.

"Something's wrong," Emma said. "If she could turn human, she would have done it by now."

"Perhaps that's why the loop slipped," Enoch said. "Remember that old story about Miss Kestrel, when she was thrown from her bicycle in a road accident? She knocked her head and stayed a kestrel for a whole entire week. That's when her loop slipped."

"What's that got to do with Miss Peregrine?"

Enoch sighed. "Maybe she's only injured her head and we just need to wait a week for her to come to her senses."

"A speeding lorry is one thing," Emma replied. "Being abused by wights is quite another. There's no knowing what that bastard did to Miss Peregrine before we got to her."

"Wights? As in, plural?"

"It was wights who took Miss Avocet," Jacob said.

"How do you know that?" Enoch demanded.

"They were working with Golan, weren't they? And I saw the eyes of the one who shot at us. There's no question."

"Then Miss Avocet's as good as dead," Hugh replied. "They'll kill her for sure."

"Maybe not," Jacob said. "At least not right away."

Enoch spoke up.

"If there's one thing I know about wights, it's that they kill peculiars. It's in their nature. It's what they do."

At this point, Frisk sat down in the burned remains of grass, setting their head on their knee to gaze out at the ruined house.

"What are we going to do, Frisk?" Chara asked, sitting down beside them. "Your bird is stuck as a bird, the house has been pummeled by bombs, and that other bird is gone."

Frisk looked at Chara a bit sadly, as if all they could do is properly let the weight of recent events sink in.

"And, another thing. I don't see any SAVE points around here, either."

Frisk just stared on, watching Miss Peregrine, in her bird form, lean over the crater. It seemed she was just as sad, too. Then, Frisk stood up despite the exhaustion and the weary look they held. They made their way to the other children, who had formed a crowd around Horace. Frisk stood beside Fiona, also watching to see what exactly the boy was doing.

What he was doing, it seemed, was drawing a picture out of ash. It was very simple: one tall rectangle, and then another covering the base of the larger. And then, Horace was finished, stepping back from his work. Someone took his shoulder and asked him a question.

"Horace," the voice- it sounded like Emma's- said, "What more do you know about this place?"

"It's somewhere windy."

"We can't simply go somewhere windy and look for a tall building," Enoch said.

"Well we can't stay here," Emma replied.

"Why not?"

"Look at the state of this place. Look at the headmistress. We had a damn good run here, but it's over."

And then, Emma and Enoch started going back and forth with each other. People started to take sides. Frisk ended up taking Emma's side. They wanted to find somewhere where they could get help for Miss Peregrine.

"We'll find another ymbryne," Emma said. "If anyone will know how to help the headmistress, it'll be one of her friends."

"But what if all the other loops have slipped? What if all the other ymbrynes have already been kidnapped?" Hugh asked.

"We can't think that way," Emma replied. "There must be _some_ left."

"Emma's right," another voice said, the bloodied, tourniqueted form of Millard. "If the alternative is to sit here and just hope, then I say that's no alternative at all."

The other side was eventually convinced. They would pack some belongings, leave the house behind, and all leave in boats from the harbor.

Jacob, unfortunately, seemed a bit doubtful of everyone's navigation abilities. The majority of the others hadn't been off the island in nearly eighty years, and the only other person from the present, Frisk, had seemingly never left either.

"There's a map," Emma suggested, walking toward the blackened house.

Jacob came with as well.

"No surprise there," Chara commented, watching the two set off side-by-side.

They returned a few minutes later with a heavy-looking book. It was wide and large, large enough to take up all of Emma's lap.

The pages seemed to be full of maps and symbols, so much so that it started to make Frisk's head hurt.

After a while longer, Jacob had announced that he was coming with. Everyone, despite being exhausted (and some wounded, in Millard's case), cheered and celebrated. Enoch shook Jacob's hand. Chara smiled and shook their head.

But then Emma looked over to Jacob and then to Frisk, her happy smile gone. Frisk, a bit worried, went up to her.

"There's something that the two of you should know, and I'm afraid it'll make you not want to come with us."

"It won't," Jacob assured.

"When we leave here, this loop will close behind us. It's possible you two may never be able to return to the time you came from. At least, not easily."

Jacob shook his head. "There's nothing for me here. And I'm not sure I would want to go back, even if I could."

"I'm not leaving you guys," Frisk said, a look of sincerity in their eyes. "Even if it takes me forever to go home."

"You say that now," Emma said, looking away for a moment. "I just wanted you to be sure."

Then, Jacob stood up and turned away, this time to look at the forest.

"Where are you going?" Emma asked him.

"For a walk," he replied. He wandered to the end of the yard slowly, staring up at the stars.

"Are you sure about this, Frisk? You're giving an awful lot for a bunch of people you barely know." Chara said, looking over at Emma and her book of maps.

Frisk looked to Chara, and the look in their eyes spoke volumes. They were going to go with.

"I should have known. It really is like you to do something like this. If it's what you want, then I won't stop you," Chara said, looking over at Miss Peregrine's avian form.

"We'll find a way," the ghostly child said quietly, staring at the bird of prey. "I know we will."

Jacob returned eventually, over to Emma and her map-abundant book. She and Chara looked up at him.

"I'm sure," he said confidently, and Emma smiled up at him.

"I'm glad."

Jacob looked back at the forest.

"There's one more thing I need to do before I go." He trudged off toward the town, disappearing into the forest.

* * *

"I'm not letting him go alone," Emma said.

"Why?" Horace questioned. "What could be so interesting about it?"

"Something important enough to him. So, it's important to me."

"I want to go with!" Little Olive piped up. "I want to see the town one last time."

"I agree," Millard agreed. "I've been studying this island for decades, so it's only fair that I get to say goodbye."

Emma nodded. "Anyone else?"

There was silence, and Emma spoke up again.

"Alright. We'll be back." And all three went into the forest until they, too, were gone.

It was at this point that a small, glowing star appeared, buried beneath some ash and pieces of brick. A SAVE point. Frisk moved over to it and felt an admittedly small glow envelop them. Chara looked down at it and began to speak.

"Although this place is ruined, you still manage to go on. You are filled with determination. HP restored."

And then the star was gone, leaving no evidence as to it ever being there. Frisk looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but everyone was too preoccupied with their own matters to notice.

"Do you think they'll be back soon?" Frisk whispered.

"Eventually. I think he had some unfinished business."

Frisk gave Chara a look, one that said, 'How could you possibly know that?'

"He's American," Chara explained. "He must have come here with someone. So maybe he wants to say goodbye."

Frisk stayed silent.

"You could have gone with, you know," Chara said. "Oh well. Goodbyes are never fun. Hellos are always better."

Frisk looked at their friend, and Chara glanced away.

"In my opinion, at least. Don't quote me on that."

Frisk kept looking at them.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Chara asked. "I did _not_ mean it like that. I'm not a mushy, overly sentimental person."

"Uh-huh," Frisk muttered, unconvinced.

"Anyway," Chara said to change the subject. "Would you like to see something?"

"Huh?" Frisk asked, interested. Chara faced away.

"I'll tell you, all you have to do is come closer," Chara said. Frisk leaned forward.

"Just a bit closer Frisk," the ghost child pressed. "Alright, now I'll- _RAAAH!_ " Suddenly, Chara turned around and made a scary face.

Frisk fell over, eyes wide with surprise.

"Gotcha!" Chara wheezed, already beginning to laugh. "You should have seen your face, Frisk! You fell for it so bad!"

From somewhere else, there were footsteps.

"They're back already? That was fast. Or we were just slow." Chara held back the rest of their laughter to watch Jacob emerge from the path, followed by the other three.

All the children then came to bury a boy named Victor. Frisk had never met him but stood there in silence nonetheless.

The boys carried his bed down to the largest hole, the one where the plant-made statue had been. All but Enoch climbed out, as he seemed to be giving Victor something.

Chara stood there as well, watching as bed and boy were buried under heaps of soil.

"I wish we could have met him," they said, watching as Fiona regrew the great leafy man where he had once been. They nodded and watched as a few other children took chunks of bricks and clumps of ash. They turned away to face the short, wild-haired child.

"Let's go, Frisk."

* * *

All of them made their way through the town together- even Chara, who had bothered to walk instead of float. The various people of Cairnholm stood around, looking up at the sky with lingering disbelief.

When they made it to the docks, Emma decided that they would be taking three rowboats. There wasn't enough room for all of the various luggage the children had brought, so most of it had to be left behind. The children stood in silence, waiting for someone to speak up. When no-one did, Enoch held up Miss Peregrine, who gave a great, loud cry. The children cried back, and it seemed that the screech of a bird was all they had needed.

Frisk was placed in the third boat with Bronwyn and Olive. It was a nice day, warm and sunny. Rowing didn't seem as hard as Frisk had thought it would be. For the things that had just occurred a few hours ago, it seemed very calm. Bronwyn took out an old camera, and waved at Jacob. She held the camera up, and for a moment it seemed like she was going to take a picture. But then, she pointed out to something far away- a collection of battleships slowly moving along in the distance.

It might have been telepathy, or maybe a shared sense of urgency, but one thing was clear: everyone began to row harder.

* * *

And that's the first book! Thanks for reading, stay tuned for Frisk and Chara's adventure through the plot of Hollow City!


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